Sika deer cub interacts with visitors. Photo by Sultani

生人闖入，小鹿並不怯場。 廣西雲-廣西日報記者曹麗媛/攝

Guangxi Yun-Guangxi Daily reporter Cao Liyuan correspondent Liu Duomin

On a spring afternoon, a herd of sika deer swims freely in the forest.

This harmony quickly turned into an intimate encounter.

Approaching the deer, the bold sika deer chased the visitors, touching the back of the reporter's hand with the tip of their wet nose, and this scene was unexpected: isn't the sika deer synonymous with timidity?

The mystery was solved by Liu Kaiyu, deputy general manager of Guangxi Luyoshan Ecological Breeding Co., Ltd.

“梅花鹿沒有膽囊只有膽管，生性敏感脆弱，但和人相處久了，彼此熟悉才變得‘放肆’起來。”劉鎧宇畢業於廣西大學動物科學技術學院，將學術積澱和25年養鹿經驗轉化作滿山靈動的鹿影。其培育的梅花鹿群在南寧樹木園鹿呦山間，成就了南方最大的梅花鹿林下養殖示範基地，存欄1000頭，馴養超1萬頭。

“我們大規模養梅花鹿始於2000年5月，自那時起梅花鹿被正式納入國家家禽家畜目錄。儘管在北方地區，梅花鹿產業已發展成千億級產業，但存欄1000頭的養殖場在全國依然屈指可數。”劉鎧宇介紹。

“呦—呦—”鹿鳴聲里，鹿呦山梅花鹿養殖基地正上演一場“換裝秀”，它們褪去煙褐色的厚重冬毛，身披金紅斑紋的新裝。“等到5月份，它們真正換毛后，身上的梅花才清晰可見，非常漂亮。”劉鎧宇向記者發出邀約，希望我們擇日再訪鹿呦山。

Turning the corner of the deer house, I suddenly smelled the smell of milk. More than 20 fluffy fawns are jumping around the breeder, tilting their heads and holding the bottle.

"These little ones are all bred in captivity, and people love and hate them." Liu Kaiyu's eyes are full of spoiling, the doe gave birth to a deer cub after eight months of pregnancy, and the deer cub can stagger and stand within 300 hours of landing, and the growth rate of the baby deer after birth is amazing. "One month is equivalent to a human year, and the general lifespan of sika deer raised is about 0 years, which is equivalent to 0 years for humans." Speaking of sika deer, Liu Kaiyu is like a treasure. "Sika deer are disease resistant, easy to raise, and are not picky about eating, fresh grass, leaves, and corn stalks are their favorite foods."

But it is not easy to raise high-quality sika deer.

The Luyoushan team broke through the traditional breeding framework and developed a unique high-quality feed formula: constructing leaves + elephant grass + traditional Chinese medicine.

The sika deer raised in this way are not only fat and strong, but also have a high amount of furry. "A male deer harvests two stubbles of antler velvet a year, with an annual yield of 3000 kilograms. When the market price is high, a kilogram of deer antler velvet can be sold for 0 yuan. Liu Kaiyu said happily.

In order to restore the natural growth environment of sika deer, the base has set up more than 800 acres of woodland as a free-range area in the surrounding area, and on the basis of retaining the Masson pine, a new Wangtian forest has been created, and landscape forests such as hydrangea purple-flowered bell trees have been planted to create a large area of continuous flower landscape. After full stocking next year, visitors may be able to encounter the poetic scene of seeing deer in the deep forest in the morning mist.

With the development of the breeding industry, Luyou Mountain has newly opened up 210 acres of land to plant trees and elephant grass. "We have innovated and built a 'tree-elephant grass' double-excellent forage system, which not only meets the specific needs of sika deer for crude protein and crude fiber, but also realizes the three-dimensional development of land resources through natural habitat cultivation." Yu Zhuguang, director of the Nanning Arboretum, said.

依託5萬余畝森林的生態優勢，南寧樹木園2022年投入1.4億元建設鹿呦山林下經濟創新發展區，規模養殖梅花鹿並延長產業鏈，打造多產業融合的“鹿經濟”。

Walking through the breeding base, some of the smart and cute sika deer are chasing and playing, and some are gently nibbling on the fresh and tender grass.

"These elves of the mountains and forests are not simple, their whole body is full of treasures!" Liu Kaiyu stroked the antlers and smiled.

On the basis of expanding the mold and improving the quality of the first production, the Nanning Arboretum focuses on the deer element and promotes the transformation of deer products from primary processing to high-end intensive processing with technical empowerment, giving birth to a series of high value-added commodities.

In the product showroom of Guangxi Luyoushan Ecological Breeding Co., Ltd., all kinds of sika deer products are dazzling. "From deer antler velvet to skin, hair, bones, blood, to deer fetus, deer muscles, etc., all have high medicinal and edible value." According to Long Bo, general manager of the company, the company has developed three series of deer fresh, deer treasure and deer wine, with more than 40 kinds of products.

Starts with deer, but not just deer.

In recent years, while developing the sika deer breeding industry, Nanning Arboretum has integrated the development of "deer elements" with the catering industry and the cultural tourism industry, planned to build a characteristic scenic spot of the sika deer industry, and carried out many innovations around product development and industrial upgrading.

Now, Luyoushan is drawing a grander blueprint, relying on the superior location and ecological base, deeply integrating the eight development models of forest and grass, forest culture, forest flowers, forest tea, forest medicine, forest vegetables, forest springs, and forest tourism, so as to create a three-dimensional economy of forest planting, forest raising, forest mining, and forest tourism.