Yakushima sika deer
Amazing fact
Yakushima sika deer have light brown coats in summer and dark brown coats in winter.
井の頭自然文化園
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Yakushima sika deer have light brown coats in summer and dark brown coats in winter.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Yakushima sika deer
- Scientific name
- Cervus nippon yakushimae
- Japanese name
- ヤクシカ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Cervidae
- Genus
- Cervus
The Yakushima sika deer is a subspecies of the sika deer.
It lives on Yakushima and Kuchinoerabu-jima in Kagoshima and is the smallest of the sika deer in Japan.
Compared with sika deer on Honshu, its legs are rather short for its body. One reason given is that on islands without natural predators, it did not need long legs for escaping.
How the Yakushima sika deer lives
In spring, old antlers fall off and new ones grow covered in soft skin. In summer, the skin around the antlers peels away, revealing hard antlers underneath. In the autumn breeding season, males lock antlers to compete for females.
井の頭自然文化園Basic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 1–1.5 m
- Diet
- Leaves, bark, buds, branches, grasses and fallen leaves
- Range
- Japan (Yakushima and Kuchinoerabu Island)
Where the Yakushima sika deer has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヤクシカ
- 简体中文
- 屋久岛梅花鹿
- 繁體中文
- 屋久島梅花鹿
- 한국어
- 야쿠사슴
- العربية
- سيكا ياكوشيما
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 井の頭自然文化園 — ニホンジカ（ヤクシカ）Checked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Yakushima sika deer, look for this
- Only males have antlers, so look to see whether there are antlers on the head.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
井の頭自然文化園EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Yakushima sika deer
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Cervidae
MORE TO MEET
