Sika Deer Project News.
IUCN-SSC Deer Specialist Group News 15: 6-7.
Einleitung:
I am currently involved in a genetics study of the sika deer in Asia. This cooperative project involves scientists in Japan, Taiwan, Russia, China, Vietnam, and Great Britain, and DNA labs in Japan, Taiwan, and Scotland. Recently I have visited countries over most of the geographic distribution to gather tissue samples, and to assess the status of the species. The sika deer has been raised in captivity for antlers for the Chinese medicine market for many years, but uncontrolled hunting and habitat loss either has, or is, driving them to extinction in the wild.
Currently, China has some 600,000 in captivity, and less than 600 (and declining) in three isolated populations in the wild. They are extinct in the wild in Vietnam and Taiwan. Both countries have native sika deer in captivity, Vietnam about 3,000 in various locations, including 2 national parks, and Taiwan about 400 in 2 locations. They are also extinct in South Korea, and apparently no original stock is in captivity. Their status in North Korea is not known. Substantial wild populations still occur in Far East Russia and Japan.
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