Brief communication. Hybridization between sika deer (Cervus nippon) and axis deer (Axis axis)

: We report an incidence of hybridization from natural mating between sika deer (Cervus nippon) and axis deer (Axis axis). A female exhibiting physical characteristics intermediate between the two species was born on a Tennessee deer farm sometime in 1995. Gel electrophoresis of three blood proteins (TF, HBB, and SOD) from the putative hybrid, the putative sika deer sire and three axis deer hinds from the herd (not necessarily including the dam) initially verified that hybridization had occurred. Q-banded karyotypes further identified the offspring as a hybrid (2n = 67) between sika deer (2n = 68) and axis deer (2n = 66). Fertility of the hybrid remains to be assessed, although it is now of reproductive age.