A mountain deer raised in the Jinjiuling Zoo in southernmost China's island province of Hainan has given birth to a male cub, the first successful breeding of the endangered species in captive.

The animal, unique to this tropical island, has a slim and graceful figure, and there are only about 800 of the deer left, with some 500 living in the wild. This is less than the number of extant giant pandas, said Lu Zejian of the zoo staff.

He said that young deer weighed only two kilograms at birth, but has grow to four kilograms after 24 days of breast breeding by the mother, and is now healthy.

The mountain deer is listed under first-class State protection, after facing extinction in 1976 when there were only 26 left because farmers hunted them. and an increasing human population

was taking over the deer's natural habitat.

But since a 133-hectare natural reserve was founded here in 1990 and another 22 forest reserves were set up later, the numbers of many tropical creatures have grown rapidly.

Experts here say that the mountain deer has now basically escaped the threat of extinction.