The ubiquitous deer that roam the ancient city of Nara are returning to the wild, moving between Nara Park and the surrounding mountains, according to a survey.
The park's visitor numbers have decreased due to the spread of novel coronavirus infections, so the deer no longer receive food such as so-called shika senbei, a rice cracker sold to tourists to give to the animals. The number of deer in the grassy, wooded park is 30 to 40 percent less than it was before the outbreak.
Shiro Tatsuzawa, an assistant professor at Hokkaido University, and the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation have conducted a survey on the number of deer in the park's flatlands (approximately 1.2 square kilometers) since January to measure the number, sex and location of the herd.
In January, there were 998 deer during daytime and 784 at night, but in June, when the number of tourists decreased drastically, the number decreased to 697 during daytime and 484 at night.
The deer had been on the plains day and night in search of deer crackers and other snacks, but they are believed to have migrated to the foothills and forests around the site.
Wild deer usually leave the forest for the grasslands around sunrise and return to the forest after sunset, which means they are on a diurnal migration. But in recent years, they have become increasingly dependent on food provided by tourists such as shika senbei, vegetable scraps and bread, and they tend to settle on the plains even at night.
"The deer population may have been confused by the fact that they were fed by people," Tatsuzawa said. "I would like to use this as an opportunity to think about how people and deer should interact with each other when the number of tourists increases."
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