Formosan sika deer of "C. n. taiouanus". In 1984 Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture funded the Sika Deer Reintroduction Project, based at Kenting National Park on the southern tip of the island. Twenty-two deer were transferred from the Taipei Zoo to serve as a founder population. Over the next 10 years the deer were maintained in enclosures until their eventual release into the National Park in 1994. Altogether over 200 deer have been released and the current population, now spread beyond the park borders, is estimated to exceed 1000 individuals. Discussions regarding other possible reintroduction sites, including Yangmingshan National Park near Taipei, are ongoing.
Formosan sika deer the 17th century immigration from the Chinese mainland increased dramatically in response to political instability in China and economic opportunities on Taiwan, which from 1624 until 1662 was controlled by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The VOC, operating from the port of Taoyuan (modern-day Anping, Tainan) in southwestern Taiwan, established a trading post whose main business was the export of sika skins to Europe. During the six decades of Dutch activity two to four million sika skins were exported to Europe. Exporting was reduced when the Dutch were forced out of Taiwan in 1662, but continued throughout the Qing