though new zealand lacked its own native population of deer, european settlers had introduced numerous species of deer into the land for the use of farming and hunting. some of these deer species had crossbred in the wild, creating hybrids, which in turn were then utilized in deer farms based on their apparent genetic improvements. alongside this discovery, deer farms began the practice of inciting hybridization in order to encourage genetic advancement. this includes a hybrid between père david's deer and red deer. these f1 hybrids are unique for several reasons. to begin with, both male and female offspring of this hybrid remain fertile, a rare prospect especially for species that have such a genetic distance. both species differ in seasonal behaviors, gestation length, behavioral traits, morphology, maturity size, and disease resistance. père david's deer is also unique in that its antlers are unlike any other deer in the world. however, due to having different seasonal behavior each species would enter their mating season at different intervals, thus preventing natural mating from occurring. in response, artificial insemination was employed on red deer hinds with the semen from père david's deer. these f1 hybrids did not share similar mating seasons with père david's deer and as such were able to successfully mate with other red deer naturally. three f1 hybrid stags successfully mated naturally in a period from 1989 to 1991 with 144 hinds and semen had been used to artificially inseminate 114 other red deer hinds producing over 300 backcross hybrids.