Sika deer

Where snow depth exceeds 20 cm, the Japanese sika deer requires supplemental feeding and protection from predators.
During the rut males produce a characteristic whistle that sounds like a steam whistle.
Male antlers are shed annually and regrow.
In captivity deer have lived more than 20 years.
During the rut males become aggressive and rub their antlers on trees.
Deer eat more than 100 plant species.
In Japan deer are considered sacred and are fed by tourists.
The sika deer is named for the white spots that are especially bright on young animals.
Deer can swim and often cross rivers.
The sika deer has been successfully introduced in many countries.

Age

Japanese sika deer typically live from 7 to 20 years, with a maximum recorded lifespan of 26 years and 4 months, and a theoretical lifespan ranging from 13 years and 2 months to 26 years and 4 months. The species reaches sexual maturity from 1 year and 3 months to 4 years of age; the young are born with their eyes open and begin walking immediately. During the embryonic stage, the fetus develops inside the mother and receives nourishment via the placenta, followed by the fawn stage, where the young lives with its mother, hides in grass, and feeds on milk for a duration of from 1 day to 1 year. The adult stage begins at 1 year and 1 month and lasts until 20 years of age, during which time adult deer can reproduce and males grow antlers.

Phenotype

The flower deer has a distinctive coloration: the fawn has reddish fur with a large number of white spots, which provides camouflage from predators; adult males and females have reddish fur with white spots in summer, and their fur becomes thicker and darker in winter, while the number of spots decreases. Adult flower deer have bony antlers with several branches, which are used in fights and shed annually, regrowing again.

Physiology

The Japanese deer’s body height ranges from 17.8 centimeters to 4.5 meters, and its body length varies from 75 centimeters to 1.1 meters; the species' mass is between 48.87 and 62.97 kilograms. During the embryo stage, the mass of the developing animal ranges from 1 gram to 7 kilograms. The young, in the fawn stage, have a body mass between 5 and 25 kilograms and a body length of 60 to 85 centimeters. Adult individuals have a body mass ranging from 40 to 80 kilograms, with a body length of 85 centimeters to 1.1 meters.

Habitat

The Japanese deer inhabits terrestrial landscapes including forests, grasslands, and steppes, at elevations up to 2 kilometers. The species occupies temperate mixed forests with warm summers and many oaks, birches, and maples, as well as flooded meadows with abundant grass where the ground is frequently inundated, and taiga characterized by cold winters and coniferous trees such as spruce and pine. The climate varies; some areas experience consistently hot and humid conditions with nearly daily rain, while others have frequent rainfall and cool summers with snow in winter, and still other regions feature warm summers and abundant rainfall, or simply warm summers and mild winters.

Shelter

The Japanese deer inhabits forests or forest edges and lacks permanent or long-term shelters. The species does not have a fixed shelter, utilizing grass and bark for protection from predators, reproduction, and rest. There is no designated permanent shelter for the Japanese sika deer.

Geography

The flower deer inhabits the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms, preferring Celtic broadleaf forests, Caledonian coniferous forests, Baltic mixed forests, European Atlantic mixed forests, and wet mixed forests of the North Atlantic.

Feeding

The Japanese sika deer eats only plants, grazing on grass and leaves in summer and stripping branches, bark, and dry grasses in winter; its diet includes grass, leaves, shoots, bark, acorns, mushrooms, young shoots and sprouts, and nuts. The species employs a grazing strategy and consumes food ranging from 2 kilograms to 5 kilograms daily. Young Japanese deer consume milk. Predators such as wolves and bears hunt the species.

Reproduction

The species inhabits and develops on land, outside of water bodies, with eggs, spawn or young developing in a nest built on or near the ground. The nest is located directly on the surface of the ground. The female is a caring mother, exhibiting parental care for the young, which are born live on land. Gestation lasts about seven months, and the female gives birth to one or two fawns in spring. The size of a litter is 1–2. The male engages in loud calls and fights with antlers for females in autumn. Sexual reproduction is homogamy, always involving fertilization without generation changes. The interval between reproductions is 1 year. Maturity occurs from 1 year 3 months to 4 years. Development of the embryo takes seven months.