Rusa Population In Japan's Nara Park Reaches Highest Record, Visitors' Injuries Increase

Rusa di Nara Park Jepang. (Wikimedia Commons/Humanoid one)

JAKARTA - The deer conservation group in western Japan revealed on Wednesday that the deer population in Taman Nara, a tourist site, had increased for four consecutive years, hitting a record high of 1,465.

In a visual survey conducted by the Nara Rusa Preservation Foundation in July, using the same method used since 1953, staff counts deer in gardens, excluding restricted areas.

The group calculated 315 adult deer, 816 female deer, and 334 young deer, totaling 140 deer the previous year and a previous record of 1,388 deer in 2019, reported by Kyodo News September 3.

It is said that the deer population in the region declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The group mentions the high number of young deer as the reason for this year's record high population.

On the other hand, deer-induced injuries also increased in the park, where visitors were allowed to feed the animals with diagnostic biscuits and sugar-free biscuits sold in nearby shops, according to the Nara Prefecture Government, which has begun warning tourists in various languages.

The prefectural government said injuries to visitors interacting with deer had increased since fiscal year 2021, with 159 cases in fiscal year 2024, 111 of which involved foreign tourists.

Further explained, touching the deer excessively when taking photos and teasing him by not giving biscuits has been linked to the injury.

The government of the prefecture and related organizations has distributed pamphlets in Japanese, English and Mandarin asking tourists in Taman Nara not to touch deer or provoke the animal, ahead of the wedding season at the end of August.

"Rusa-rusa in Taman Nara are tame and accustomed to humans, making it easy to forget that they are wild animals," said Shu Ishikawa of the conservation group, adding he hoped visitors would remember they entered the deer habitat when visiting the park.