News Surging Nara deer population causes visitor injuries

A deer conservation group in western Japan reported on 3 September that Nara Park's deer population has grown for the fourth consecutive year, reaching a record 1,465 animals. Alongside the population increase, the number of injuries caused by the deer has also risen. At the park, visitors can feed the animals special digestive, sugar-free crackers sold at nearby shops, a practice the Nara prefectural government has flagged with multilingual warnings to help keep tourists safe. The count was based on a visual survey conducted in July by the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, using the same method it has employed since 1953. Restricted areas were excluded from the tally.

The group counted 315 adult males, 816 does and 334 fawns, with the total exceeding the previous year by 140 and the previous record of 1,388 in 2019. It said the deer population decreased in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group cited the high number of fawns as the reason for the record-high population this year. The prefectural government said injuries to visitors interacting with the deer have been on the rise since fiscal 2021, with 159 cases in fiscal 2024, of which 111 involved foreign tourists. It said excessive touching of the deer while taking photos and teasing them by withholding crackers have been linked to the injuries.

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The prefectural government and related organisations have been distributing pamphlets in Japanese, English, and Chinese, requesting that tourists at Nara Park refrain from touching the deer or provoking the animals, ahead of the mating season in late August.



Meanwhile, LDP rightwinger Takaichi, who hails from Nara, confirmed her claim that foreign tourists have kicked deer at Nara Park, although local officials say they have no reports of such violence.

When asked at a candidates' debate hosted by the Japan National Press Club on 24 September to provide evidence that foreigners had kicked the animals, Takaichi said she had "confirmed it in her own way," but did not elaborate on the details of the alleged abuse or how she had verified it. A Nara prefectural government official, however, stated that no staff on routine patrols, members of the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, or visitors had reported any incidents of violence toward the deer. The official emphasised that, to the knowledge of the prefecture and related organisations, no acts of physical harm such as hitting or kicking had been confirmed.

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This is one way in which Trump has dragged political debate into the gutter. He lies about immigrants eating cats and dogs, then in the UK, Farage lies about them catching swans, and in Japan, Takaichi lies about foreigners kicking deer.

From last year's Japan Today report on the incident: 'However, the above version of the video points out that the man has what appear to be house keys clipped to his waistband and is wearing a T-shirt from a relatively minor Tokyo-based apparel company, and some commenters have said they can hear the man saying "Jama" and "Doke," Japanese for "You're in my way," and "Move it" as he strikes the deer, suggesting that he may be a Japanese local, but his identity remains unconfirmed at this time.'