Japanese deer

Description

Japanese deer are significantly smaller than red deer and are roughly the same size as fallow deer. They reach a snout-vent lenght of between 95 and 140 cm in male specimens. The height at the withers/shoulder is 64 to 100 cm, the tail is 7.5 to 13 cm long. They weigh up to 80 kilograms.

The summer coat of the Japanese deer is usually reddish brown with numerous white spots arranged in seven to eight longitudinal rows. In winter, these spots fade and are sometimes hardly noticeable, while in summer they contrast markedly with the rest of the coat colour. Japanese deer usually wear their summer coat from the end of May. They show their winter coat from September onwards.

The back of the thigh is clearly different from the rest of the coat colour. This so-called mirror is whitish and framed by darker hairs. The end of the tail is also white, with a dark line running down the middle.

There is a possibility of confusion with the fallow deer, which also has a reddish-brown summer coat with a spotted pattern. However, the shade of red in the most common colour morph of the fallow deer is a rusty shade. Older fallow deer can be distinguished from male Japanese deer by their antlers, as fallow deer develop palms.

Japanese deer are a very adaptable species of deer. They prefer forests with a dense undergrowth and are also found in wetlands.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikahirsch). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 19. October 2021