The Process of Population Expansion of Sika Deer
Teruki Oka, Hayato Iijima, A. Kamata, Akira Ishida, Norikazu Eguchi, Takuya Aikawa, Hiroshi Takahashi, Hiroshi Kondoh, C. Yayota, Masato Hayakawa, Toru Koizumi
Abstract
The battle between the Japanese people and sika deer has been going on for a long time. Due to the postwar policy of protecting female deer and their phenomenal reproductive ability, the distribution of sika deer is expanding rapidly, covering 70% of the country as of 2018. The speed of distribution expansion itself and the speed of agricultural and forestry damage caused by expansion seem to be constant. Citizen science is highly important to adapt to the expanding distribution of sika deer and to reduce its damage, sharing information on deer among government officials, local residents, forestry and agricultural workers, members of hunting associations, hikers, nature lovers, and sometimes researchers and finding solutions based on this information.