Deer Take Over Nara Streets

Five deer have been seen strolling in single file throughout a pedestrian crossing whereas the sunshine was inexperienced, forcing a automobile making an attempt to show left to attend till they’d handed.

Nara’s deer are designated as a nationwide pure monument and are historically considered messengers of the gods. They are finest identified for residing in Nara Park, the place vacationers generally feed them particular deer crackers.

However, the animals noticed on July 14 have been immediately in entrance of JR Nara Station, about 2 kilometers from the park. During lunchtime on a particularly scorching day in Nara, they have been seen consuming grass from roadside plantings.

After the 5 deer crossed to the opposite facet of the highway, they joined one other group, rising the herd to eight.

The deer inhabitants at Nara Park has risen sharply because the finish of the coronavirus pandemic. In fiscal 2025, the quantity was 360 greater than 5 years earlier, reaching a file excessive.

The rising density has led extra deer to depart the park and settle completely in surrounding areas.

Yasuhiro Nakanishi, vice chairman of the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, described the unfold of deer colonies exterior the park because the creation of “mini Nara Parks.”

“When female deer leave the park, they join males outside and create a mini Nara Park,” Nakanishi mentioned. “If one male and three females form such a group, the population can quickly reach 100 if nothing is done. The outside area becomes their home, and they do not even know Nara Park.”

The deer’s excessive reproductive capability might result in extra critical issues because the herds increase.

While Nakanishi was talking at a housing advanced about 1.5 kilometers from Nara Park, deer have been resting within the shade and strolling alongside the highway. They later joined one other herd rising from contained in the advanced, creating what seemed to be one other mini Nara Park.

One native resident mentioned the sight was nice however acknowledged that householders have been struggling harm. “It feels like they are everywhere, and it is heartwarming, but they eat the plants in people’s gardens, so I think the residents are having trouble,” the particular person mentioned.

Residents who develop greens at residence have been significantly affected.

“They eat the sweet potatoes, the new shoots on the persimmon leaves and all the edamame,” one resident mentioned. “They eat just about everything.”

Edamame crops that had been fastidiously cultivated have been eaten right down to the stems, whereas leaves have been additionally stripped from a persimmon tree. The family had put in netting to guard the backyard.

“We have no choice but to coexist with them and think of it as letting the deer eat,” the resident mentioned. “That is part of living in Nara.”

In addition to crop harm, officers are involved concerning the deer’s antlers.

Deer inside Nara Park have their antlers minimize within the autumn to stop accidents to individuals, however these residing in residential areas retain their antlers, creating a possible security threat.

“By late August or around September, the antlers become as hard as human fingernails,” Nakanishi mentioned. “Their behavior also changes at that stage. People who approach males carelessly are more likely to be attacked.”

In September 2025, a digicam captured a boy being knocked down by a charging deer.

The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation has launched such footage and is urging individuals to not method the animals with out warning.

“For deer, there is probably no place safer or more secure than Nara Park,” Nakanishi mentioned.

The Nara prefectural authorities and different authorities are conducting operations to drive deer discovered exterior the park again towards Nara Park.

Source: FNN