With the alias of Flower Deer, it belongs to the Cervidae family of Artiodactyla order. Its scientific name is Cervus nippon (Latin) or Sika Deer (English).
Sika Deer is a medium-size deer, with about 140 to 170 centimeters in body length, 85 to 100 centimeters in shoulder height, and 100 to 150 kilograms in weight (adult). The female deer is much smaller than the male. The male has horns, mostly four forks. In the middle of the back is a dun back line. Its tail is short, with black backside and white ventral side. In summer its hair is brownish yellow, full of vivid white plum blossom spots, hence it gets the name. And its hip has white spots.
It inhabits forest fringes or upland meadows. Its habitats vary with the change ofseasons.Male deer mostly leads a solitary life, in oestrus and mating period it returns to the group. Moving about in the morning and dusk, it feeds on green grass and leaves, fond of lapping salt and alkali. Oestrus and mating are usually between September and November, with impetuous contention for females among the male. Each male possesses a definite domain scope. Between April and June in the next year, the female gives birth to baby, with one baby per fetus, and the baby body with white spots.
Distributed in Anhui, Jiangxi and Sichuan provinces and Northeast China, Sika Deer is of very high economic value. But due to past excessive hunting and killing, the quantity of wild Sika Deer is very small. In the common boundary of Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang, the amount is about 200 to 300; while in northern part of Sichuan, the number is between 500 and 600. In Taiwan wild Sika Deer has disappeared, with only breeding population remaining. There may still be some wild population in Northeast China. Now the bred population has reached several ten thousand.
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