Japanese Sika were probably first brought to England in 1860 when a pair were presented to the Zoological Society of London and exhibited in Regent’s Park. Thereafter many parks and zoological gardens throughout Britain came to introduce Sika. Escapees and deliberate releases led to feral Sika faring very differently across England, Scotland and Ireland with their greatest success in the latter two countries. The current national distribution reveals a widespread if haphazard range. It is interesting that of the eleven areas in England recorded as having feral Sika in 1964 (Whitehead), only in South-East Dorset and the southern part of the New Forest can they be said to have truly flourished.

Sika arrived in Dorset through two separate introductions: the first in 1895 at Hyde House Park north of Wareham and a second on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour the following year. Whilst it is believed that the Sika released onto Brownsea Island started to swim ashore on the night of their release, the first escape from Hyde House was not recorded by the neighbouring Trigan Estate until 1927. There were further escapes from Hyde House during the 1930s, and the whole herd was released during the Second World War when the government took over the running of the estate. The South Dorset distribution of Sika lies within the Poole Basin but is spreading beyond the normally defined limits of Poole in the East, Bere Regis in the North and Dorchester in the West.

By comparison, Sika were introduced into the New Forest when a pair were given to John, second Baron Montague of Beaulieu, by King Edward VII from his Windsor estate just after the turn of the century. This first pair was penned at Thorns Beach but escaped into Sowley Wood the same year. A second pair arrived a year later and were released in Ashen Wood. The present New Forest herd originated from these animals and so prolific was it that culling became necessary by 1930.