: a deer (Cervus nippon) of eastern Asia that has a chestnut to brownish coat often spotted with white and that has established populations in other regions (such as Europe and the U.S.) as a result of introduction
Examples of sika in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The hybrids seem to be intermediate in physical appearance, tending toward the spotted coats and smaller stature of the sika deer.
—
Richard Pallardy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
Barbary sheep, mouflon sheep, blackbuck, red stag, sika and axis deer and mountain goats are among the exotic game that roam the ranch.
—Melissa Manno, San Antonio Express-News, 17 Dec. 2023
The zoo — which has three sika deer, six black bears, 10 alpacas and hundreds of monkeys and birds — doesn’t charge admission and was reliant on state funds, but hadn’t received money for six months, according to the fund.
—Laura He, CNN, 20 Sep. 2023
One study on dystocia in free-ranging sika deer says the lack of recorded instances of the complication could be a result of natural selection toward optimal birth size in does and fawns.
—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 6 Sep. 2023
More recent excavations of Bo’s tomb yielded golden eagles, sika deer and rhesus monkeys.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
There’s a deer island (and deer cities, too, most notably Nara, Japan’s eighth-century capital and home to more than a thousand sika deer, who dominate the main park and occasionally try to butt visitors, who are warned by signs not to antagonize them).
—Hanya Yanagihara Kyoko Hamada, New York Times, 10 May 2023
This is the first article to report mating behaviour between a male Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata yakui) and female sika deer (Cervus nippon yakushimae) on Yakushima Island, Japan.
—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 9 Mar. 2018
Chinese farmers have been raising sika deer for their velvet for hundreds of years.
—The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Richard Pallardy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
Barbary sheep, mouflon sheep, blackbuck, red stag, sika and axis deer and mountain goats are among the exotic game that roam the ranch.
—Melissa Manno, San Antonio Express-News, 17 Dec. 2023
The zoo — which has three sika deer, six black bears, 10 alpacas and hundreds of monkeys and birds — doesn’t charge admission and was reliant on state funds, but hadn’t received money for six months, according to the fund.
—Laura He, CNN, 20 Sep. 2023
One study on dystocia in free-ranging sika deer says the lack of recorded instances of the complication could be a result of natural selection toward optimal birth size in does and fawns.
—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 6 Sep. 2023
More recent excavations of Bo’s tomb yielded golden eagles, sika deer and rhesus monkeys.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
There’s a deer island (and deer cities, too, most notably Nara, Japan’s eighth-century capital and home to more than a thousand sika deer, who dominate the main park and occasionally try to butt visitors, who are warned by signs not to antagonize them).
—Hanya Yanagihara Kyoko Hamada, New York Times, 10 May 2023
This is the first article to report mating behaviour between a male Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata yakui) and female sika deer (Cervus nippon yakushimae) on Yakushima Island, Japan.
—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 9 Mar. 2018
Chinese farmers have been raising sika deer for their velvet for hundreds of years.
—The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Sika.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sika. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share