English: (Henry) Robin Ian Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford, of Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, where the deer park contains a herd of Pere David deer (also known as Milu Deer), native to China, but which became extinct there. The first time he heard the story of the Milu from his grandfather; The Milu was legally obtained by the French and British Missions in Beijing and sent to several European Zoos at the turn of the 19th century from where the 11th Duke of Bedford gathered them onto his estate and eventually saved them from extinction. The promise the 14th Duke made to himself at age 13 to, one day, return the Milu to China; his immense pride that four generations of the Bedford family managed, on their own, a successful captive breeding program that saved the Milu from extinction; and the reintroduction of the animal to its homeland when animal conservation and environmental issues were of little concern to most people in the world. He also spoke of his happiness in being able to pass the baton to his eldest son (Andrew, now the 15th Duke of Bedford) to continue in the footsteps of his ancestors; and his dream to see a free living population of Milu in China. Sadly he did not live to see his dream become reality as he passed away in 2003, aged 63, twenty years after he started discussion with Chinese authorities about the return of the Milu to China. In 2005, the Beijing authorities honoured the Duke’s memory by unveiling his statue at Nan Haizi during celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of the Milu reintroduction in the presence of his widow, Henrietta, Dowager Duchess of Bedford, and his three children, Andrew, 15th Duke of Bedford, Lord Robin Russell and Lord James Russell. It is very unusual for Chinese authorities to honour a foreign national in such a way and it showed the deep respect and immense gratitude that they felt for him and his family. (Source: https://whispersandfizz.wordpress.com/tag/robin-14th-duke-of-bedford/)