VIDEO: And who is that?
The creature in question is in the foreground…
In the deer feeding ground a young deer bull has been seen lately that is significantly more furry and darker than the other red deer. In the video we can see that the individual also lacks the distinct brighter patch around the tail. Who is he?
At the moment the deer researchers have no answer. The information from the recorded videos and images is too scanty, the situation must be investigated further.
The longer and darker winter fur points to a Sika deer but the darker tail area is not typical for either of the Cervus deer species in Estonia – neither red nor Sika deer.
Of the Cervus species only red deer are known to live in Saaremaa, since the introduction to the island in 1965.
We got the surprise last year: in November hunters were hunting a stag that on closer inspection turned out to be a Sika deer. In winter the bright patches in the fur are missing and so it is very difficult to distinguish between the two deer species particularly considering that there should not be any Sika deer in Saaremaa. In Läänemaa a Sika deer was encountered most recently on January 20th.
The report from Saaremaa about a Sika deer brings up the idea that the ”woolly”, shyly behaving creature might be a hybrid of red and Sika deer, or simply a red deer with a fur anomaly …
Further information will bring clarity.
Photo: Kaarel Roht.
Sika deer as well as jackals invade Estonia. Who comes next – a raccoon? The photo is not from Saaremaa.
A somewhat different deer