The Père David's deer that narrowly avoided extinction¹ has been proposed as mascot² candidate for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

 

差点就濒危的四不像鹿被推选为2022北京冬奥会候选吉祥物。
 

 

A global campaign to select the mascot will end on Oct. 31, according to the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCWOG).

 

One of the designs BOCWOG collected was inspired by the Père David's deer, known as Milu in China. Milu, under first-class animal protection, can run or swim fast, and is agile³ in an ice and snow environment.

 

Zhang Xiaodong, deputy dean of the School of Design and Art at the Beijing Institute of Graphic⁴ Communication, said Milu's characteristics make it a perfect fit for ice and snow sports.

 

Zhang added he featured the deer's antler in the design and tried to make the mascot lovely, humble⁵ and cute.

 

The team started the design from August this year and spent more than two months on its creation.

 

The Chinese character for deer, lu, is also a homophone for the character meaning fortune and lucky.

 

Milu park in Beijing's Daxing District has made strides in breeding and protection of the species.

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