The Sika Deer is one of the best known precious animals of China. In ancient times, it was regarded as an auspicious animal and called "a divine creature".

The Sika Deer is a medium-sized deer, with a body length of 140-170 centimeters and a shoulder height of 85-100 centimeters. An adult Sika Deer weighs about 100-150 kilos. Female deer are smaller than male ones. Stags have horns that are generally made up of four forks. The Sika Deer has a graceful and well-shaped body and its fur color changes with seasons. In summer, the hair is brownish yellow or chestnut red with no villi. Lots of well-arranged white dots are scattered on its body. The dots are like plum flowers that are shining in the sunshine. So the deer is also called “plum flower deer” in Chinese. In winter, the hair turns dark brown and the white dots are not so evident. So the color of the deer’s body looks like that of withered twitch-grass, which serves as a perfect camouflage. They live in forest edges, hills or grassland. The habitat changes from season to season. The animal is alert and deft by nature, with extremely good senses of hearing and smell. But its eyesight is not so good. And it’s timid and easily startled. Thanks to slender limbs and narrow and pointed hoofs, the Sika Deer runs very fast and good at jumping. They usually zip through the bushes freely with graceful and charming movements. They move so quickly that one minute they are visible and the next they vanish.

In China, the Sika Deer can only be found in areas like Jilin, south Anhui, north Jiangxi, Guangxi and Taiwan etc.