Eld's Deer
Panolia eldii
Status: Endangered, Poached for hides and antlers, limited protection for their habitat
The qilin is a creature from chinese mythology that has the body and antlers of deer, the scales and whiskers of carp, the tail of ox, and the head of dragon. Though awe-inspiring to behold in their fierce beauty, they are gentle creatures. They are often depicted walking upon clouds or across the surface of water because they are so sensitive to all living things that they cannot bear to harm even the grass, or the insects burrowed in the earth. They are embodiments of luck and prosperity, and when they were sighted in the reign of an emperor, it was a sign that he was a virtuous ruler, and good fortune would fall upon the land..
Though descriptions of these chimerical beasts were woven from the traits of creatures in the Asian landscape for thousands of years, it was not until the 15th century in the Ming Dynasty when merchants presented giraffes from modern-day Somalia to the Emperor, that the modern imagination began to see giraffes as the physical embodiment of the mythic creature.
References:
Jar with Mythical Qilin. (mid-17th century). [Porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)]. In Jar with Mythical Qilin [19.28.2a, b]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://jstor.org/stable/community.18313379
WATT, J. c. Y. (2008). The Giraffe as the Mythical Qilin in chinese Art: A Painting and a Rank Badge in the Metropolitan Museum. Metropolitan Museum Journal, 43, 111-115. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25699088
Yoshida, M. (2014). Trade Stories: chinese Export Embroideries in the Metropolitan Museum. Metropolitan Museum Journal, 49(1), 165-185. https://doi.org/10.1086/680031