A photo released on Sunday shows a mass consisting of plastic bags found in the stomach of a deer in Nara Park, Japan. Photo: Nara Deer Preservation Foundation via AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3018097/japans-famous-nara-deer-dying-eating-plastic-bags East Asia
Japan’s famous Nara deer dying from eating plastic bags
- Nine of the animals were found with masses of plastic in their stomachs, wildlife group says
- More than 1,000 deer live in Nara Park, where tourists are forbidden from feeding them anything except special crackers
A volunteer picks up plastic products during a clean-up campaign in Nara, Japan, on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo via AP
Nine deer have died after swallowing plastic bags in Japan’s Nara Park, a wildlife group said on Wednesday, warning that a surge in tourism may be to blame.
The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation said that masses of plastic bags and snack packets were found in the stomachs of the deer, who died between March and June this year.
“The biggest [piece of] litter found in one of the nine amounted to 4.3kg (9.5 pounds),” foundation official Yoshitaka Ashimura said.
“We were surprised. It was so big.”
The picturesque park in Japan’s ancient capital is home to more than 1,000 deer, who can even be found roaming the streets in search of special tasty crackers offered by tourists.
Tourists are forbidden from feeding the deer any food besides the crackers, but Ashimura said some visitors offer the animals other types of snacks.
“The deer probably think that the snacks and the plastic packs covering them are both food,” he said, adding the animals normally eat grass and acorns.
“They might also eat plastic bags dropped on the ground,” he said, adding that he believed such cases had increased recently “due to the growing number of visitors”.
“The only way to prevent this is to remove all the garbage.”
The sprawling park that also includes wooden temples and shrines built centuries ago is a major tourist attraction.
The number of tourists visiting Nara city where the park is located has increased in recent years, with 16 million visitors in 2017.
The deer at the park – numbering on average about 1,200 – are protected as a national treasure.