Sika Deer Factfile

Scientific Name : Cervus nippon

World distribution

Sika deer are from a wide area of Asia which includes S.eastern Siberia, Japan, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

However, people have introduced them to many other parts of the world , where they now live and breed in the wild. Examples rang from Australia, to Britain and the U.S.A.

Habitat

They are fairly adaptable, but their ideal habitat is forest with thick undergrowth.

Feeding

These animals will eat almost any kind of plant, depending on what is available. They chew the cud, which means that they bring up food that has been swallowed so that they can chew and digest it again.

Predators

They are food for many large predators, such as leopards, tigers and wild dogs. While they are feeding, they must asways be on the look-out for dangger and be ready to gallop away at top speed. The white patch on their rump flashes a warning to others as they run.

Breeding

At breeding time (known as rutting time) the male gathers a group of femalees and guards them fiercely from other males with his big antlers.

When a baby (fawn) is born, its mother hides it in thick undergrowth. It keeps very still and quiet as it waits for her to return to feed it. Amazingly, baby deer have almost no smell - even hunting dogs cannot sniff them out.

When the fawn is a few weeks old it ventures out to play with other fawns. It will be ready to breed when it is 18 months old.

Other interesting facts

• Like all deer, sikas have antlers made of bone, which fall off each year and regrow. As they grow they are covered in soft velvet byt as the mating season approaches the velvet peels off to expose the sharp bone.

• Sika deer sieem to live alone for most of the year, but females tend to hang around together when they have young, perhaps so that the fawns can play together but also because several pairs of eyes have a better chance of spotting danger.

• As with all deer (and many other animals) the sika's eyes are positioned on the sides of its head, enabling it to see further round the sides than we can. This is very useful for those creatures whose only chance againsst predators is to run for it!

• The male deer marks out his territory by digging large shallow holes and urinating in them.

• Fights between rival males are sometimes fearsome and may lead to the death of one of them.
  
  

  Facts and Figures
  Name	sika deer
  Type of animal	mammal
  Where found	Asia
  Habitat	forests
  Diet	herbivorous
  Average length	150 cm
  Average weight	55 kg
  Average number of young per year	1
  Gestation	210 days
  Maximum lifespan	18 years
  Note for Teachers

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