A new genetic study of sika deer and red deer in Denmark found no hybrids, but a senior researcher is now questioning why so few animals were tested.
Senior researcher Niels Tommerup has raised doubts about the scope of the study, DR reports. According to Tommerup, the analysis did not examine whether hybridisation between the two species may have happened at an earlier point. He asks why more samples were not taken.
The chromosome and DNA analysis covered 56 sika deer and 22 red deer, as reported by DR. No hybrids were found among the sampled animals. The result was presented as evidence that crossbreeding between the two species is not a documented problem in Denmark.
TV 2 Østjylland reported on August 16, 2026 that the project was initiated by veterinarian Astrid Ingstrup. Per Ingstrup, the finding means that hybridisation is not a problem in Denmark. The outlet described the result as laying to rest fears of hybrid deer.
Study lands in a policy dispute
The question matters because the sika deer is on the European Union list of invasive species, according to DR. That listing is central to how the animal is managed in Denmark. The findings were therefore read as relevant to the debate over the future of the population.
DR reported on August 16, 2026 that Denmark’s nature minister maintained the position that the sika deer should still be eradicated. The minister kept that line despite the new report. DR described both the scientific and the political fallout from the study.
Tommerup’s criticism, published by DR on August 28, 2026, focuses on two points. One is the number of samples behind the conclusion. The other is that the analysis did not test for historical hybridisation in earlier generations of animals.
The sika deer, known in Danish as sikahjorten, is not native to Denmark. The red deer, or krondyr, is the country’s largest wild land mammal and lives in forests and open areas across large parts of the countryside. Both species are part of the wildlife found in Danish nature.
Neither DR nor TV 2 Østjylland reported any change to the management of the species following the study. The nature minister’s position, as stated in DR’s coverage from August 16, 2026, remains that the sika deer should be removed from Danish nature. The genetic analysis of the 78 sampled animals stands as the newest documentation in the dispute.
