Green Island Formosan Sika Deer Ecological Park Introduction
Originally, there were no Formosan sika deer inhabiting Green Island. In the 1960s, they were introduced for farming, with velvet antlers being harvested for sale. This eventually developed into a unique deer farming industry in Green Island, peaking between 1977 and 1983, when the island had over 2,000 sika deer. However, as deer farming spread throughout Taiwan and the price of deer velvet plummeted, it became economically unviable. Many deer farmers released their sika deer back into the wild, allowing the species, which had been extinct in the wild on the main island of Taiwan for many years, to regain a foothold in the forests of Green Island. The sika deer, now a precious ecological resource on Green Island, has been designated a special area as a sika deer park, allowing visitors to get closer to and learn more about the ecology of these deer.
