Note - images on this page
do not have links to full sized pictures.
This article by the late Tom Pirrie, former Chairman of
the Wildlife Club was published in the Autumn 2005 edition of
the Newsletter. It is tha last in a series of four articles.
Sika deer in the natural state come from eastern Asia including
the south eastern corner of Russia, the mainland of China, the
republic of Taiwan (Formosa) and various Japanese islands.
They were probably introduced to Britain when a pair of Japanese
Sika Deer were presented to the Zoological Society of London
in 1860 and were exhibited in Regents Park. About this date
other Sika were sent to Powerscourt Co. Wicklow. The Sika that
were 
introduced
to Dawyck came from this herd. Initially they did not extend
their range very quickly, that happened much later with the
explosion of deer farming. When I first started to watch deer
there were only two small herds of Sika in Southern England
and they were on the western fringes of the New Forest, and
I remember cycling down in the hope of seeing them, a round
trip of seventy odd miles, my stalking skills were not great
in those early days and although I did catch the odd glimpse,
I heard for the first time the nasal whistle they make when
moving through the woods during the rut. Today, fifty years
later, Sika have been seen in every county in Britain, they
have interbred with our native Red Deer to such an extent that
it would be difficult to find a Red Deer that did not have some
Sika genes. In size they are slightly smaller, but the shape
is almost identical. 
The Sika from Dawyck gradually expanded and spread, helped by
the blanket planting of the ForestryCommission. They moved towards
Moffat following the A701, which was a natural corridor. I first
saw Sika in Tweedsmuir some thirty years ago and followed with
interest their movement down to Moffat. While the trees were
still small on the Greenhillstairs you could very often see
them, but they were very often mistaken for Red Deer. Today
they are stalked on a commercial basis. I only know of one Sika
that was shot on the Gallowhill. The latest movement seems to
show them moving into Nithsdale. I doubt very much if you will
see any Sika really close to Moffat, but deer are unpredictable
creatures and you can never be certain.
