Sika Deer

About the Sika Deer

The sika deer (Cervus nippon), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it was overhunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th century. Protection laws were enacted in the mid-20th century, leading to a rapid recovery of their population from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The name "sika deer" comes from shika (鹿), the Japanese word for "deer", and in Japan, the species is known as the nihonjika (ニホンジカ (日本鹿), "Japan deer"). In Chinese, it is known as Chinese: 梅花鹿; pinyin: méihuā​lù, "plum blossom deer", referring to the white fur spots on the deer's back resembling plum blossoms.

The sika deer is a member of the genus Cervus, a group of deer also known as the "true" deer, within the larger deer family, Cervidae. Formerly, sika were grouped together in this genus with nine other diverse species; these animals have since been found to be genetically different, and reclassified elsewhere under different genera. Currently, deer species within the genus Cervus are... Wikipedia →