Between 1900 and 1925 about 20 Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) were intentionally introduced to provide a food source to aboriginals and as a species for non-aboriginals to game hunt. With no natural predators and abundant food the deer did phenomenally well. Today, upwards to one half million deer - now diminutive in size - are found virtually everywhere on the islands - from mountaintop to sea level, east to west coast, and on both large and small islands. This population explosion of deer has had a profound effect on the coastal rainforest, and in many areas the coastal rainforest has little to no understory. The deer show a strong preference for eating sapling red cedars and in many regions on the islands the regeneration of the red cedar forests (particularly after logging) has been hampered by the deer.