The sika deer is from Japan

They came to Denmark around the year 1900, but they are originally from China and Japan.

In the summer time they are very beautiful – with their maroon fur and white spots.

The sika deer and red deer are very similar

Sika deer can be conscidered small red deer. Their life cycle is much like the red deer, with rut in september/october and calving in may/june. The biggest difference between them is their size: The sika stag weighs around 70 to 90 kilos and the red deer stag around 200 to 250 kilos. The sika deer also have spots as adults, while the red deer does not.

Despite of their big size difference, sika deer and red deer can mate and have fertile offspring. To our knowledge, this has never happened in the wild in Denmark.