The South China sika deer (''Cervus nippon kopschi'') is one of many subspecies of

sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to ...

. Standing tall at the shoulders, it is a small subspecies that is only a little larger than its Japanese counterpart. The back is brown with a long dark vertebral strip flanked from indistinct white spots, the belly is snowy white. It has previously ranged from

Yangtze River Basin The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

all the way east to the coast, going as far south as the border with

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Today its small population of 300 is widely scattered along its former range, in remote mountains isolated by heavily populated lowlands. About 30 exists in the

Tianmu Mountain Tianmu Mountain, Mount Tianmu, or Tianmushan () is a mountain in Lin'an County west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in eastern China. It is made up of two peaks: West Tianmu () and East Tianmu (). Twin ponds near the top of the peaks led to the name of ...

s in northern

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, 70 to 100 in southern

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, and 150 in northern

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

. The population size in southern

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

is unknown, and a tiny population might exist in northern

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

as well. The population continues to decline due to poaching, and inbreeding is a matter of concern for the quality of its future population.

References

Cervus Mammals of Asia {{eventoedungulate-stub