Can someone explain to me the origin of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan?

The head of the Yuanmingyuan beast is generally called the head of the Yuanmingyuan beast.

The bronze statue of the head of the Yuanmingyuan beast was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan was designed by the European missionary Lang Shining (1688-1766), designed and supervised by the Frenchman R.Michel.Benoist (1715-1744), and made by the Qing court craftsman.

Originally, Lang Shining wanted to build a nude female sculpture with western characteristics, but Emperor Qianlong thought it was contrary to China's ethics, so he ordered it to be redesigned. Later, this bronze statue of the Chinese zodiac was created. Another problem is that when the design was finished, Lang Shining found that no craftsman in Qing Dynasty knew how to make bronzes. Later, he and other craftsmen consulted the classics, which was time-consuming and laborious.