Yezo sika deer

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Yezo sika deer

A young Yezo sika stag near Wakkanai, Hokkaido.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Subfamily:	Cervinae
Genus:	Cervus
Species:	C. nippon
Subspecies:	C. n. yesoensis
Trinomial name
*Cervus nippon yesoensis* Heude, 1884

The Yezo sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis,^[1]^[2] Japanese: エゾシカ / 蝦夷鹿, romanized: yezoshika,^[3] Ainu: ユク yuk^[4]^[5]) is a subspecies of sika deer that inhabits the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The Hokkaido sika are endemic, although it is not known whether they originated there or migrated from Honshū or areas further south. It is thought that they may have traveled across the Tsugaru Strait between the islands. Genetic study has shown that the separation of the sika population occurred less than half a million years ago.^[6] It is possible that northern sika deer may be more closely related to yezo sika deer than to other sika deer.^[7] The indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido have hunted them for centuries and relied on them as a major food source.

The Hokkaido sika is one of the largest of the sika species, with mature stags approaching (and sometimes exceeding) 200 kg in the fall.^[8] They also sport the largest antlers of the sika, with lengths often over 35 inches (0.89m); the longest recorded specimen had antlers measuring 44 inches (1.12m). By SCI measurement, the Hokkaido sika produces the highest scores, although very few have been listed.