Notes on the Sika Deer.

Journal of Mammalogy 37 (1): 99-105.

Extract:

When two men undertake so large a task as compiling a checklist of palae-arctic and Indian mammals, they cannot fairly be expected to escape some oversights. Such seem to have occurred in J. R. Ellerman's and T. C. S. Morrison-Scott's treatment of the sika deer.

First, they list Sika dugenneanus (sic) as a synonym, with “no locality,” for the South China Sika, Cervus nippon kopschi Swinhoe, 1873. Alike in their spelling of “dugenneanus” in making it a synonym for kopschi, and in declaring it had no locality, they seem to follow the statement of Allen (1940), but on all three points Allen would appear to mislead them.

The name dugennianus was coined by the French missionary, Father P. M. Heude, who gathered a large collection of mammals at the Sikawei Museum in Shanghai, and created infinite confusion among Chinese fauna by proliferating synonyms with an almost...

glover-biblio

Increase and decline in the density index of Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon) over 18 years in an evergreen broad-leaved forest with no hunting pressure in the Natural World Heritage Area of Yakushima, Japan.

Japanese Journal of Conservation Ecology. April 20, 2021. DOI: 10.18960/hozen.1923.

Inhalt:

The Yakushima sika deer (yakushika: Cervus nippon yakushimae), a subspecies of the Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon), evolved without natural predators on the island of Yakushima, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It inhabits the forests on the island which were declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. Within the site, the yakushika has not been hunted in the past 50 years; however, since 2014, their population has been decreasing. This phenomenon is especially curious, as Japanese researchers believed that sika deer populations in Japan would not decrease without human intervention.

agetsuma-biblio

Growth of the sika deer (Cervus nippon yakushimae) population in the western lowland forests of Yakushima Island, Japan.

Mammal Study 29(2):105-111. DOI:10.3106/mammalstudy.29.105

Abstract:

The density of a sika deer population in an evergreen natural forest on Yakushima Island was surveyed by road counts from August 1988 to July 1989, and from August 2001 to July 2002. Based on distance-sampling methods, population density estimates were 2.55 deer/km2 in 1988 and 40.74 deer/km2 in 2001. Encounter rate indices (number of deer seen per kilometer) increased by a factor of 6.16 over these 13 years. This rapid population growth may reflect increased sika deer food availability following logging in the forest.

tsujino-biblio

Sikahirsch: Management einer eingeführten Grosswildart.

Schweiz Z Forstwes 169 (2018) 2: 115-117. doi: 10.3188/szf.2018.0110

Zusammenfassung:

Verschiedene exotische Tierarten wurden in der Vergangenheit zu jagdlichen Zwecken nach Europa eingeführt und in Wildgehegen gehalten. In den Wirren des 2. Weltkriegs wurden dann viele Gehege zerstört oder aufgegeben, und die Tiere entkamen in die Freiheit. Vor allem Sikahirsche konnten sich seither etablieren und ausbreiten, mit teilweise gravierenden Folgen für die Artenvielfalt und die Waldwirt-schaft. Am Beispiel der Population im Klettgau (Süddeutschland) und im Südranden (Schweiz) wird dargestellt, welche Lösungen gefunden wurden, um die Bestände auf ein erträgliches Mass zu reduzieren. Dabei zeigt sich, dass unterschiedliche Jagdmodelle zum Erfolg führen können. In Irland hingegen, wo sich der Sikahirsch ebenfalls sehr stark verbreiten konnte, müssen Lösungen erst noch gefunden werden. 

held-biblio

Matters of life and death.

ZOOQUARIA 105: 14-15

Zusammenfassung:

Die Entwicklung des EEP wird kurz dargestellt. Probleme sind häufige Sterilitäten bei Hirschkühen, mit denen während einiger Jahre nicht gezüchtet wurde, um nicht-platzierbare Tiere nicht töten zu müssen, was etwa ein Viertel der Individuen betrifft. Ferner besteht ein ungünstiges Geschlechterverhältnis, weshalb vermehrt auch Junggesellenherden gehalten werden sollten.

pluhacek-biblio

The Vietnamese sika Cervus nippon pseudaxis conservation project.

International Zoo Yearbook 32: 56-60·

Inhalt:

Ziel des Projekts war, Sikas aus dem Gatter im Cuc Phuong Nationalpark an europäische Zoos zu senden, um die genetische Variabilität der europäischen Popultion zu erhöhen und die Kooperation zwischen den vietnamesishcen Behörden und Institutionen mit en Zoos zu stärken.

ratajszczak-biblio

Microsatellite analysis of genetic diversity of the Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis).

J Hered. 2004 Jan-Feb; 95(1):11-8.

Zusammenfassung:

The Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) is an endangered subspecies of economic and traditional value in Vietnam. Most living individuals are held in traditional farms in central Vietnam, others being found in zoos around the world. Here we study the neutral genetic diversity and population structure of this subspecies using nine microsatellite loci in order to evaluate the consequences of the limited number of individuals from which this population was initiated and of the breeding practices (i.e., possible inbreeding). Two hundred individuals were sampled from several villages. Our data show both evidence for limited local inbreeding and isolation by distance with a mean F(ST) value of 0.02 between villages. This suggests that exchange of animals occurs at a local scale, at a rate such that highly inbred mating is avoided. However, the genetic diversity, with an expected heterozygosity (H(e)) of 0.60 and mean number of alleles (k) of 5.7, was not significantly larger than that estimated from zoo populations of much smaller census size (17 animals sampled; H(e) = 0.65, k = 4.11). Our results also suggest that the Vietnamese population might have experienced a slight bottleneck. However, this population is sufficiently variable to constitute a source of individuals for reintroduction in the wild in Vietnam.

thevenon-biblio

Genetic diversity analysis of captive populations : the Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) in zoological parks.

Zoo Biology 22:  465-475.

Zusammenfassung:

The Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) is an endangered subspecies; it has disappeared in the wild, but is being bred in zoological parks. We studied the neutral genetic diversity and population structure of herds kept in different European zoos, using nine microsatellite loci. The goal was to evaluate the consequences of founding effects and breeding practices on the level and structure of genetic variability. The level of genetic diversity within the European zoos is not lower than that of the populations kept in Vietnamese farms. Strong differences among zoological parks and between the European group and the Vietnamese population were detected. This is probably due to founding effects, genetic drift, and possibly hybridization in both Europe and Vietnam. We expected to find a much lower level of genetic diversity in Europe. The current overall level of genetic diversity is probably due to the recent introduction of Cuc Phuong individuals, and to important differences among the populations of different zoological parks, which increase the total genetic variability. Although the current level of genetic variability is not particularly low, future levels are probably threatened by the current herd sizes and structure. Based on these results, management guidelines are proposed.

thevenon-biblio