In Britain Sika Deer are found in a number of locations. In the South they have only become successsfully established around Poole Harbour. They have not managed to form sustainable populations elsewhere in the South. Their main concentrations are in Scotland and Northern England. They are found in many places in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
Sika Deer are very closely related to Red Deer. They are a small deer and have a chestnut-brown coat. It has a distinctive white tail and rump with a black stripe that it uses as a warning signal to alert other deer to possible danger. Stags are darker than herds. In summer they have a chestnut colour with varying amounts of white spotting down the dorsal side. The hinds are a light grey in winter, but the males are much darker. The rump remains white in both sexes throughout the year. Its antlers point straight upward and have a maximum of 10 tines. The males weigh about 63kg and have a shoulder height of 80cm. The females weigh a maximum of about 40kg and have a shoulder height of 70cm. The Sika Deer is particularly hardy and is able to stand the severest of winters.
The rut occurs in September. The males will either mark out and defend a territory, or defend a harem in a similar way as Red Deer. The stag marks out his territory by thrashing vegetation leaving circular patches along its boundary. The stags often fight during the rut. The stags also have a distinctive rutting call which is used to attract females.
Stag calves produce pedicles at about 6-7 months of age. In their second year these grow into spikes which can be upto 25cm long. Normally these are unbranched. In their third year though the antlers have 6 points. In full maturity the males produce a full head of antlers with 8 points. This can occur in the 4th, 5th or 6th years. In old age the number of points declines again. The males lose their antlers in May and June.
The Sika Deer is naturally a woodland deer, but it is very adaptable and is happy in parkland as well. Sika Deer are active mainly at dawn and dusk, when they leave wooded areas to search for food. Because Sika Deer are so closely related to Red Deer they can interbreed, and there are worries they may affect the purity of the native red deer.
Often when the males have a dispute they will fight using their antlers, however the antlers are lost (cast) in May. If a dispute occurs and neither male has antlers remaining they will often have 'boxing' matches to decide who is stronger.
Where has the Sika Deer been introduced?
The Sika Deer ahs been introduced into many European countries for example, Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, and has also been introduced into New Zealand.
Why are Sika Deer found in Dorset?
Sika Deer were originally introduced onto Brownsea Island in 1896, they soon swam across Poole Harbour and set up a population in Dorset, which now has one of the highest concentrations of Sika Deer in Britain.