Kerama deer

The Kerama deer (also Kerama Sika) is an endangered subspecies of the Sika deer native to the Kerama Islands.^[1]

Kerama deer
Kerama deer stands looking into camera with plants hanging out of its mouth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Genus:	Cervus
Species:	C. nippon
Subspecies:	C. n. keramae
Trinomial name
Cervus nippon keramae (Kuroda, 1924)

History

Kerama deer were imported from the Kagoshima Prefecture in the early 17th century. They were heavily hunted because they destroyed crops,^[2] causing the population to rapidly decline, and are now a government-protected species. The total known population was 130 as of 1995.^[3] They have been designated a Natural Monument of Japan.^[4]

Description

Kerama deer have dark brown hair. Only the bucks have antlers, which are shed from March to April. They are small, weighing only about 75 kilograms.^[2]