Sika deer sika deer. All "Cervus" species can crossbreed and produce hybrids in areas where they coexist (for example, introduced sika hybridize with native red deer in the Scottish Highlands, where this is a serious threat to the gene pool of the red deer population). Serious genetic pollution has occurred in many populations, especially in China. Therefore, the status of many subspecies remains unclear. The status of "C. n. hortulorum" is particularly uncertain and might in fact be of mixed origin, hence it is not listed here. The sika deer is one of the few deer species that does not lose its
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