History and Management of Sika Deer on the Delmarva Peninsula

Clement Henry accepted a gift of five sika deer from the Duke of Bedford in 1916. After being released on James Island, MarylandMaryland, this population became the founders of the current population of 10,000–20,000 individuals on the Delmarva PeninsulaDelmarva Peninsula. These deer are from the smallest subspecies of sika deer (Cervus nippon yakushimae), which are native to Yakushima IslandYakushima Island and Kuchinoerabujima Island in Japan. These deer are small in stature with adult body mass of 25–40 kg. Although they are a valuable game species with 3,500–4,000 individuals harvested annually, they are non-native and may compete with the native white-tailed deer. Empirical evidence exists for interspecific competition via overlap in resource use and changes in resources use; however, no evidence exists for interspecific competition impacting population ecology of white-tailed deer. The current management philosophy of the state wildlife agencies is to slow or prevent the range expansion of sika deer to minimize impacts to native white-tailed deer and to reduce human conflicts.