Sika deer (Cervus nippon) were first liberated near Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand in 1885 and in the Kaimanawa Mountains of the North Island in 1905. Only the second release, sika deer from sent over from the Duke of Bedford's Woburn herd, proved successful.
In January 1905 six animals were released close to Mirelees basin, Poronui Station on the edge of the Kaimanaws. These were gifted to the New Zealand government by the Duke of Bedford in 1904 and subsequently released in Jan 1905.
These animals sent over from the Woburn herd in England are believed to be of mixed sub species and this maybe the reason for the variance of body size as well as skin and velvet coloration in the New Zealand Sika heard.
This introduction was very very successful, and the herd now occupies a considerable range with the main range stretching from Taupo in the North to The Tararua ranges in the south, east of the Napier Taupo Road and west into the Tongariro national park.
During 1963-66 the New Zealand Forest Service investigated the factors underlying the dispersal of Sika deer from their point of introduction southwards along the Kaweka Range to the Ruahine Range. Observations were made in the Oamaru Valley, Kaimanawa, Kaweka, on the pattern of habitat occupation and use by a mixed population of Sika and red deer. As it was believed that hybridism takes place between Sika and red deer, information was obtained from overseas about the characters of the stock from which the Sika in New Zealand originated, and autopsies were carried out to determine the morphological characteristics of both the Sika and red deer species in the Kaimanawa and Kaweka region. Herd structure, reproductive success, and behavior were also studied.
There has been quite big spread of isolated small pockets of Sika .Small private releases and animals that have escaped from farms and game parks with notable areas being the Northland herd and Port Waikato.
What sub-species of Sika were the original stock? Good question and one that is very hard to conclusively answer. Apparently the Duke of Bedford said that the gifted Sika were of the Manchurian type, but since five subspecies of Sika lived on Woburn Abbey estate at the turn of the century, it is almost certain that mixing of races of Sika had taken place long before animals reached New Zealand forests. In the 1960's and 1979's a large Sika deer research survey undertaken buy Mavis M Davidson for the forest research institute, New Zealand forest service. This was based on the Kaimanawa-Kaweka Sika herds and observed a range of animals that in the opinion of observers were indeed of very mixed origin. For this reason, New Zealand Sika are now all lumped together under the one classification: Cervus Nippon.
We estimate there are 25,000 wild Sika in New Zealand with about 7-8000 harvested annually.
We give Mavis Davidson credit for some of our information. If you have further information or phots to add please email us at jamie@sikahuntersnz.co.nz
