Basic Biology -- Fossil Record of Sika Deer in Japan -- Two Genetically Distinct Lineages of the Japanese Sika Deer Based on Mitochondrial Control Regions -- Evolutionary Significance of Admixture and Fragmentation of Sika Deer Populations in Japan -- Nutritional Physiology of Wild and Domesticated Japanese Sika Deer -- Endocrinology of Sika Deer -- Reproduction of Female Sika Deer in Japan, with Special Reference to Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan -- Food and Habitat Relations -- Food Habits of Sika Deer on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan with Reference to Local Variations, Size Effects, and Comparison with the Main Island -- Plants and Plant Communities on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan, in Relation to Sika Deer Herbivory -- Productivity and Foraging Efficiency of the Short-Grass (Zoysia japonica) Community for Sika Deer -- Home Range, Habitat Selection, and Food Habits of the Sika Deer Using the Short-Grass Community on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan -- Shift to Litterfall as Year-Round Forage for Sika Deer after a Population Crash -- The Dynamics of Forest Stands Affected by Sika Deer on Nakanoshima Island-Change of Size Structure Similar to the Thinning Effect -- Biology of Sika Deer in Hyogo: Characteristics of Reproduction, Food Habits, Growth, and Condition -- Bark-Stripping Preference of Sika Deer and Its Seasonality on Mt. Ohdaigahara, Central Japan -- North-South Variations in Sika Deer Ecology as a Forest-Dwelling Cervid -- Geographical Variations in Food Habits of Sika Deer: The Northern Grazer vs. the Southern Browser -- What Is "Natural" Vegetation? A Reconsideration of Herbivory by Wild Ungulates -- Behavior: Migration and Breeding Systems -- Seasonal Migration of Sika Deer on Hokkaido Island, Japan -- Migratory and Sedentary Behavior Patterns of Sika Deer in Honshu and Kyushu, Japan -- Variation in Mating Behavior of Sika Deer: Mating Behavior of Sika Deer on Nozaki Island -- Reproductive Ecology of Sika Deer on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan: Reproductive Success of Males and Multi-Mating of Females -- Life-Time Reproductive Success of Female Sika Deer on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan -- Reproduction of Female Sika Deer in Western Japan -- Population Dynamics and Management -- Sika Deer in Nara Park: Unique Human-Wildlife Relations -- A 20-Year History of Sika Deer Management in the Mt. Goyo Area, Northern Honshu -- Survival Patterns of Male and Female Sika Deer on Kinkazan Island, Northern Japan -- Sika Deer in an Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest Zone on the Boso Peninsula, Japan -- Sika Deer Population Irruptions and Their Management on Hokkaido Island, Japan -- Irruptive Behavior of Sika Deer -- The Management of Sika Deer Populations in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan -- Management Strategy of Sika Deer Based on Sensitivity Analysis -- Sika in Mainland Asia and Taiwan -- Sika Deer in Russia -- Sika Deer Distribution Changes at the Northern Extent of Their Range in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of the Russian Far East -- Sika Deer in Mainland China -- Sika Deer in Korea and Vietnam -- Sika Deer in Taiwan -- The Present Status of the Re-introduced Sika Deer in Kenting National Park, Southern Taiwan -- Introduced Sika Deer -- Sika Deer in Continental Europe -- Sika Deer in the British Isles -- Free-Ranging and Confined Sika Deer in North America: Current Status, Biology, and Management -- The Sika in New Zealand -- Color Plates. Sika deer, the graceful spotted deer of Japanese and Chinese art, originally were native to Asia from far-east Russia to Vietnam to the islands of Japan and Taiwan. They are widely raised in captivity to supply velvet antler for traditional medicine. They also were introduced to Europe, North America, and New Zealand, where they compete or interbreed with native deer. Sika deer typically occupy lowland hardwood forests with low winter snow depths, where they thrive in sites disturbed by fire, storm, or logging. In high numbers they can severely impact vegetation though overgrazing, stripping bark from trees and damaging crop fields and forest plantations. Their numbers are high in many parts of Japan, moderate in Russia, and reduced or extinct in the wild in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. This book explores their basic biology, behavior, and ecology, including management for sport hunting, conservation or recovery of threatened populations, and resolution of conflict with humans in native and introduced lands.