This species of deer was first made known to Western science in the 19th century, by Father Armand David, a French missionary working in China. At the time, the only surviving herd was in a preserve belonging to the Chinese emperor. The last herd of Père David's Deer that remained in China were eaten by Western and Japanese troops that were present at the time of the Boxer Rebellion[citation needed].

After Father David publicized their existence, a few animals were illegally transported to European countries for exhibitional purpose, and bred there. After the remaining population in China was extirpated, the remaining deer in Europe were gathered to England and bred for the preservation of the species. The current population stems from this herd. These deer are now found in zoos around the world. Two herds of Père David's Deer were reintroduced to Nan Haizi Milu Park, Beijing, and Dafeng Reserve, Jiangsu Province, China in the late 1980s. In spite of the small population size, the animals do not appear to suffer genetic problems from a genetic bottleneck, suggesting that a previous bottleneck had already removed harmful recessive alleles.

When they were last assessed for the IUCN Red List (1996), they are classified as "critically endangered" in the wild, under criteria D: "[wild] population estimated to number less than 50 mature individuals".