Cervus nippon
Silhouette: Birgit Lang · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The sika deer (Cervus nippon), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it was overhunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th century. Protection laws were enacted in the mid-20th century, leading to a rapid recovery of their population from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The name "sika deer" comes from shika (鹿), the Japanese word for "deer", and in Japan, the species is known as the nihonjika (ニホンジカ (日本鹿), "Japan deer"). In Chinese, it is known as Chinese: 梅花鹿; pinyin: méihuālù, "plum blossom deer", referring to the white fur spots on the deer's back resembling plum blossoms.
The sika deer is a member of the genus Cervus, a group of deer also known as the "true" deer, within the larger deer family, Cervidae. Formerly, sika were grouped together in this genus with nine other diverse species; these animals have since been found to be genetically different, and reclassified elsewhere under different genera. Currently, deer species within the genus Cervus are... Wikipedia →
Recording0:19
United States · 2024
© Cole Tiemann · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording1:19
New Zealand · 2022
© mark_smale · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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New Zealand · 2024
© commoncopper · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Sika Deer sighting in Osaka on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 8 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Sika Deer in Osaka on a given day, against under 5% in November and December, the lowest months. That is one of Osaka's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain against 55 mm in January.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sika Deer sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Sika Deer sightings, Osaka ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Sapporo (Japan, about 30%), Hiroshima (Japan, about 30%) and Nagoya (Japan, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sika Deer is recorded against all the mammals logged in Osaka (68 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
