Young Sika buck preparing for the winter

The Sika Deer, ''Cervus nippon'', also known as the Spotted Deer or the Japanese Deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to various other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it is now on the brink of extinction in all areas except Japan, where the species is overabundant. Its name comes from shika , the Japanese word for "deer".