Records of sika deer Cervus nippon from the southern Kuril Islands in 1986-2019, with special reference to a continuous record of living deer on Kunashir Island since 2017

The sika deer (Cervus nippon) is native to eastern Asia and commonly occurs on Hokkaido Island, northern Japan. The nearby localities of the southern Kuril Islands, located cast of Hokkaido, have not been regarded as part of the sika deer's regular range, despite isolated observations and trace evidence described before 2017. Here we consolidate the information of the sika deer in the southern Kuril Islands since 1986 with new information that establishes a continuous record of living sika deer on Kunashir Island from 2017 to 2019

国後島におけるチシマクロクモソウ（ユキノシタ科）の調査と哺乳類の観察報告

2019 年9 月、北方四島ビザ無し交流で国後島を訪問し、チシマクロクモソウ調査と哺乳類の観察を行った。チシマクロクモソウは新規に5 か所、計13 箇所の生育地を確認し、生育環境や形態観察を行った。哺乳類についてはヒグマの足跡や食痕の他、ノウサギ属・シマリスなどを観察し、コウモリ調査も行った。In September 2019, the authors embarked upon an expedition to Kunashir Island through the visa-free exchange program for the Four Northern Islands. During the field trip, we checked the habitat of Micranthes fusca var. kurilensis (Saxifragaceae) and observed mammals. The present study confirmed five new localities for M. fusca var. kurilensis, in addition to the eight localities we recorded previously, and observed their growing conditions and morphological characteristics. As for mammals, we observed footprints and food marks of brown bear (Ursus arctous), hare (Lepus sp.) and others. We also conducted bat (Chiroptera) surveys