• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.701-709
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• 2001

Yeso sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) grazed on various types of plants, and the fiber content in these plants was low. The tastes of yeso sika deer for existing feeds for ruminant livestock resembled those of sheep. Though the digestibility of these feeds in yeso sika deer was slightly lower than that in sheep, the nutritive values of DCP and TDN were similar between the two species, suggesting that feed for sheep can be utilized. Therefore, in small-scale farming of yeso sika deer, the feeding amount in feeding planning can be determined using the feeding standards for sheep. However, when concentrates are fed, correction of TDN is necessary. In large-scale pasturage, the nutritional intake in summer is adequate because yeso sika deer graze on various types of wild plants. In winter, they mainly graze on sasa (Sasa senanensis), and supplementary food may be necessary to supply TDN. Thus, since yeso sika deer graze on many types of wild plants, existing feeds for ruminant livestock can be used. In addition, plant biomasses except concentrates that do not cause competition with existing livestock may be effectively utilized in yeso sika deer, suggesting their importance as animal resources. The data on the intake and nutritive values of Sasa senanensis can be parameters for estimating the appropriate inhabitant number of wild yeso sika deer in wintering areas.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.254-262
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• 2023

Background: Water deer and sika deer, which breed in the wild environment, are known to have similar reproductive physiology mechanisms. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the differences in uterine development between water deer and sika deer during estrus. Methods: MMPs and uterine development-related factors were analyzed and morphological differences were compared in the uterus of sika deer captured near Russia near Korea and water deer captured in the wild in Korea. Results: In terms of morphological differences in the uterus, the glands that form villus within the endometrium of the water deer were newly developed, and the formation of small glands was high, but the villus and glands of the sika deer were expanded, and the stroma zone in the myometrium was higher than that of the water deer. Development has increased. Additionally, the expression of PAPP-A and VEGF factors was increased in the endometrium of water deer than in sika deer, but the actions of MMPs were increased in sika deer. Conclusions: As a result of this study, there is a significant difference in the development of glands in the endometrium of water deer and sika deer during estrus, and it is believed that there is a significant difference in the development of the uterus due to the physiological effects of estrus between water deer and sika deer. Additionally, it is believed that there will be differences in the timing at which pregnancy can be decided.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.437-444
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• 2011

The object of this experiment was to investigate the food habits of sika deer fed with various roughage sources. The experimental trials were conducted at Unbong Animal Genetic Resources Station in 2008. The experimental roughages include five sources and 25 species in all; grasses and legumes: 5 species (mixed grasses, orchardgrass, tall fescue, alfalfa, white clover), native grasses and weeds: 5 species (mixed native grasses, Miscanthus sinensis Anderss, Arundinella hirta (Thunb.) Tanaka, barnyard grass, short awn, forage crops (hay, silages and straw): 5 species (barley + hairy vetch, Wheat + hairy vetch, rye silage, barley silage, baled rice straw), browse and fallen leaves: 5 species (mixed browse, oriental white oak, Quercus serrta Thunb., oriental cherry fallen leaves, Japanese chestnut fallen leaves), and imported hays and straws: 5 species (timothy hay, tall fescue straw, annual ryegrass straw, klinegrass hay, alfalfa hay). Five sika deer were used as experimental animals and the averaged body weight was 95+5.4kg. The chemical composition and dry matter digestibility of each roughage source and species were significantly different at the sampling area, plant species, growth stages and cutting period(p<0.05). The sika deer ate more roughages which had low fibrous contents, but high dry matter digestibility. Among all the 25 species of roughages, the favorite intake roughage sources ranking by sika deer was observed like this: browse and fallen leaves (32.2%), grass and legumes (27.0%), native grasses and weeds (22.0%), imported hays (12.9%) and forages crops (5.5%) respectively. Although, the sika deer ate more browse leaves, but ate more roughage which had low fibrous contents (NDF and ADF), but high drymatter digestibility. On the other hand, compared to each roughage source, total intake amount by sika deer was showed as browse and fallen leaves (32.2%). Based on the result, the food habit of sika deer seems to be closer to the typical browser.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2021

Background: Sika deer, Cervus nippon, were originally introduced to South Korea from Japan and Taiwan for commercial farming purposes. Unfortunately, they were released into the wild during religious events and have since begun to impact the native ecosystem and species endemic to South Korea. The study of activity patterns can improve our understanding of the environmental impact of non-native species and their association with sympatric species. Using camera traps, we studied the diel and seasonal activity patterns of non-native sika deer and quantified the temporal overlap with sympatric mammalian species in the Muljangori-oreum wetlands of Hallasan National Park, South Korea. Results: A total of 970 trap events were recorded for five mammalian species from nine locations during the camera-trap survey. Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus) had the highest number of recorded events (72.0%), followed by sika deer (Cervus nippon) (16.2%), wild boar (Sus scrofa) (5.0%), Asian badger (Meles leucurus) (4.5%), and the Jeju weasel (Mustela sibirica quelpartis) (2.0%). Sika deer had bimodal activity patterns throughout the year, with peaks throughout the spring-autumn twilight, and day and night time throughout the winter. Relating the daily activity of sika deer with other mammalian species, roe deer expressed the highest degree of overlap (Δ₄ = 0.80) while the Asian badger demonstrated the lowest overlap (Δ₄ = 0.37). Conclusions: Our data show that sika deer are a crepuscular species with seasonal variations in daily activity patterns. Additionally, we identified the temporal differences in activity peaks between different mammals in the Muljangori-oreum wetlands and found higher degree of overlap between sika deer and roe deer during twilight hours.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2023

Background: Research on the reproductive physiology of Water and Sika deer, an endemic in Korea, still needs to be completed. This study analyzed the ovarian development and morphological characteristics of wild Water deer and Sika deer. Methods: Water deer and Sika deer ovaries were collected from the Korean Peninsula and Russia-Korean Peninsula border during the estrus and pregnancy seasons, respectively. And, morphological and physiological analysis and immunohistochemistry were conducted to confirm the detection of Ca²⁺ and assess the morphological changes in the ovaries. Results: The results of morphological analysis of ovaries during pregnancy and estrus, the development of the corpus luteum and follicles of Water deer showed similar patterns to other mammals. In contrast, the corpus luteum of Sika deer differed in tissue morphology and composition from Water deer. Ca²⁺ related to tissue metabolism was detected in the theca cells zone of Water deer on the estrus and was highly detected in the luteum cells zone during pregnancy. The hormone receptor protein expression patterns were generally higher in the ovaries of Water deer on the estrus and the pregnancy than in Sika deer. The expression of LH receptor was relatively low in the lutein cell zone, unlikely that of Water deer. The expression of VEGF was also different from Water deer, and the response in Sika deer was relatively very low compared to Water deer in expressing all proteins-related development. Conclusions: Therefore, the results of the study were shown that the composition of the corpus luteum of Sika deer is not clear compared to Water deer, and there are many differences in the functional and morphological formation of the corpus luteum.

• Korean Deer Journal
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• no.9
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• pp.5-13
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• 1990

In order to investigate the food habits of the sika deer. 21 spring, summer and autumn browse(leaves of trees and shrubs) species in northern part of Korea were evaluated by Using four sika deer(Cervus nippon) bucks from 1988 to 1989. The most frequently

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1233-1237
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• 2008

The genetic variability within and among three deer species in Malaysia, namely Cervus nippon (sika), Cervus timorensis (rusa) and Cervus unicolor (sambar), were evaluated using the RAPD technique. The DNA extracted from the buffy coat of 34 sika, 38 rusa and 9 sambar were analysed using ten primers that gave bands which showed good resolution. The primers generated 164 RAPD markers in total, and these ranged in size from 150 to 900 bp. The percent of polymorphism of the bands generated per primer ranged from 66.66-93.33% for rusa, 36.84-61.14% for sambar and 52.38-100% for sika. The overall percent polymorphism observed for the 164 RAPD markers was 99.39%. The results revealed five exclusive, monomorphic markers for sambar and one exclusive, monomorphic marker for sika; none was observed for rusa. However, these cannot be declared as markers for the identification of the species without analysis of more samples, populations and species. The means of within population genetic distances, based on Dice's and Jaccard's similarity indices, were similar for the rusa (0.383 and 0.542, respectively) and sika (0.397 and 0.558, respectively) populations with the sambar population being the least variable (0.194 and 0.323, respectively). The Dice based genetic distances within the species ranged from 0.194 to 0.397 and the genetic distances among the species were 0.791-0.911. The genetic distances based on Dice's and Jaccard's similarity indices between the rusa and sambar were 0.556 and 0.713, between the rusa and sika populations were 0.552 and 0.710, and between sambar and sika were 0.622 and 0.766, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2015

The Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus) is an endemic subspecies in Taiwan. The original wild deer has been extinct since the late 1960s. The largest captive population is located at the Taipei Zoo. Except for infectious disease outbreaks, no systemic medical research has been reported for this subspecies. This study was conducted to analyze the medical status of the captive Formosan sika deer population, including the hematological and serum chemistry characteristics. To accomplish this, medical records for 34 Formosan sika deer from January 2003 to January 2014 were acquired and analyzed. The most common illness and cause of death was trauma, followed by gastrointestinal and respiratory disease, respectively. The hematologic and serum chemical values of healthy adults were quite different from those of sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis). This study provides a closer medical understanding of this subspecies and the results will facilitate its management.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2022

The Yezo sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) is a subspecies of sika deer originated from Hokkaido, Japan. This paper is a study on the ecological impact caused by large mammals invading the ecosystem. Two pairs of deer were donated to the Agency for Defense Development in Taean in the late 1980s, and the population expanded to over 280 in 2018. The thermal imaging camera showed that the population ranged from 8 to 53 herds, divided into approximately 10 groups. It was confirmed that some of the herds had escaped the management area and invaded the nearby natural ecosystem, causing damage to cultivated land and natural vegetation. Herds of over 50 individuals have been studied in large grassland areas near drinking water sources such as streams and ponds. In places with excessive deer concentration, 1) feeding damage to herbs, shrubs and sub-trees, 2) tree withering due to antler-rubbing, and their habit of migrating along forest edges 3) excessive soil loss on slopes, 4) destruction of herbaceous layers due to compaction, and finally 5) damage to infrastructure were also investigated. As such, it is expected that the results of this study on the ecological and economic damage of Yezo sika deer can be used to predict the impact of other exotic sika deer in South Korea with similar behavioral characteristics and to establish a management plan.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.70-75
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• 2023

This study was conducted from October 2021 to October 2022 at Gulup island, Incheon, South Korea, to identify activity patterns of Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus) introduced in island areas, using camera trapping. We described the daily activity patterns of Formosan sika deer in each season by analyzing kernel density estimates of capture frequency and checked seasonal differences in daily activity patterns by analyzing the overlap coefficient between seasons. Formosan sika deers introduced to Gulup island showed a crepuscular behavior pattern only in winter and no distinct pattern from spring to fall. The crepuscular behavior pattern is typical for deers to reduce the risk of predation, and it is determined that Formosan sika deers introduced to Gulup island were affected by population control of the species by the local government in the winter. It was in contrast to the fact that human activities, such as backpacking, frequently carried out from spring to fall, did not affect the behavior of Formosan sika deers. Moreover, low winter temperatures have been shown to affect the nocturnal activities of Formosan sika deers in winter. The behavior patterns of Formosan sika deers overlapped least between summer and winter due to cold winter weather and population control. The relationship between the temporal status of Formosan sika deers and seasonal temperature confirmed in this study can be important basic ecological data for establishing control measures of Formosan sika deers introduced not only in islands but also in inland.