Sika deer at New Forest Wildlife Park, 21 August 2010

This is a Sika female(hind). I wonder if their Sika came from the wild(feral) stock in the New Forest. Recent DNA testing indicates these may be the purest Sika in the UK (they often hybridise with Red Deer) far more so than most of the other feral populations such as in West Dorset/Poole Harbour and in Scotland.

Interesting question actually, I'll ask that next time. They've had the sika since about '96, but I don't think they breed them.

Its perhaps more likely they came from another wildlife park's stock as that's the usual route.

@Pertinax, What sika subspecies' are involved in the UK? Which ones have been tested and found to be represented in the New Forest? Science papers?

@Kifaru Bwana

It is thought that all the sika are of the mainland Japanese subspecies.

@Kifaru Bwana Japanese. The study on their genetics was done by Southampton University but that is all I know. The ones in the New Forest originated from 4 animals, -two pairs- that escaped, or were released, from the Beaulieu Estate circa 1940's. In Dorset some introduced to Brownsea Island in Poole harbour, swam ashore to the mainland and, combined with some more escapes from another estate near Wareham, have colonised most of the whole area of south Dorset. Nowadays there are thousands of them. One river floodplain I know has literally hundreds of them, concentrated in one small area where they are present throughout the year.

There are several subspecies of Sika in Japan.

@Prochilodus246 - what is "mainland Japan"? Honshu?

@Pertinax, thanks for your comments and how the Sika deer in New Forest sika have originated from. As well as your general observations where else in England the sika deer ended up (Dorset). Peculiar that the population in Dorset seems to have stayed rather localised in England....!


As for Japan, the country sports 6-7 subspecies of Sika deer, depending on taxonomy and who you talk to and with several introduced sika deer populations ... including one subspecies from outside Japan ex Taiwan (taiouanus on the western outlier island archipelago due up north).

Main archipelago:
Cervus nippon nippon Japanese sika deer, distribution: southern Honshu (Central Island), Shikoku and Kyushu Island.
Cervus nippon aplodontus North Honshu Sika deer, distribution: northern Honshu (Central Island)
Cervus nippon magushimae, Mageshima sika deer, distribution: Mageshima and Tanegashima Islands.
Cervus nippon pulchelus, Tsushima sika deer, distribution: Tsushima Island.
Cervus nippon yakushimae Yakushima Sika deer, distribution: Yakushima
Cervus nippon yesoensis Ezo sika deer, distribution: Hokkaido (North Island)

Introduced:
Cervus nippon taiouanus, Taiwanese sika deer, distribution: accidental introduction into western small island archipelago.
Cervus nippon keramae Ryukyu Sika deer, distribution: Kerama Islands, Ryukyu Islands. They are nowadays considered locally as endangered. Incidentally, this populations seems to originate from an introduction from Kagoshima Island during the 17th century.