A Chinese Water Deer nurses her fawn. Photo: Courtesy of Su Zhenxing

A local university and the municipal government are working to repopulate a native species of deer within the city, including downtown areas such as Century Park, local media reported on Tuesday.

The species, the Chinese Water Deer, which is a second-class nationally protected animal, had lived in Shanghai more than 100 years ago, but disappeared after its habitat was gradually transformed into farmland, according to a news report in the Shanghai Morning Post.

"We would like to give residents more opportunities to get closer to nature by bringing back a species that used to exist in the city," said Chen Min, an ecology professor at the School of Life Science at East China Normal University.

There are now 227 Chinese Water Deer living in Shanghai. 

The Shanghai City Appearance and Environment Sanitation Administration, the Shanghai Wild Animal Protection Station and other local government agencies began working with the university in 2007 to restore the species.

The group reintroduced 21 deer from Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, to the Huaxia Chinese Culture Park in Pudong New Area, the report said.

In 2008, the group set up a breeding center in a forest in Songjiang district, where the Chinese Water Deer were fed and taken care of. The deer were released into the wild for the first time in 2009 at the Shanghai Binjiang Forest Park.

The animals have since been seen in parts of Pudong and Xinbang Forest in Songjiang, the report said.

Experts have identified more than 10 sites that are suitable habitats for the deer, including coastal wetlands, such as Dongtan in Chongming county, and large suburban parks, such as Century Park and Gongqing Forest Park.

Chinese Water Deer are timid creatures that pose no threat to residents, Chen told the Global Times.