Two river deer fawns explore their surrounds at the Jilin provincial wildlife rescue and breeding center. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]

Two rare river deer babies were born at the Jilin provincial wildlife rescue and breeding center in Northeast China's Jilin province on June 19, according to center officials.

River deer, also known as Hydropotes inermis, are considered to be the most primitive deer. They were included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species in 2012 and are national second-level protected animals.

River deer have two subspecies, one is the Zhiming species and the other is Gaoli species. Experts said the newly born babies belong to the latter and they were the first of their kind to be bred in China.

The father of the two babies was saved in 2016 and the mother was saved in 2017 and they mated in 2019, according to officials.

They said the breeding of the two offspring provided valuable experience for the conservation and artificial breeding of this species in the country.

The mother river deer closely watches over one of her fawns. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]