Deer from Japan's Nara Park die after swallowing numerous plastic bags

NARA (Japan) — More than half of the 14 wild deer that have died in Nara Park in western Japan since March this year were found with numerous plastic bags in their stomachs, prompting the local government to take action to protect them.

According to the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, nine deer died after swallowing plastic bags. Masses of tangled up plastic litter and packets of snacks were retrieved from their stomachs, with the heaviest amount weighing 4.3kg.

Their habit of eating plastic bags is likely to be linked to tourists who carry food in them to feed the deer, according to Dr Rie Maruko, a veterinarian who belongs to the animal conservation group.

Deer learn that such bags contain food, or are tempted by the smell coming from the discarded packages, leading them to accidently eat the objects, Dr Maruko said.

READ ALSO:

• No to plastic bags: Penang, Perak plan more ways to cut use

More than 1,000 deer roam in the vast park and tourists are allowed to feed them with digestive and sugar-free deer crackers, or "shika sembei" in Japanese, which are sold in nearby shops and do not use plastic wrapping.

But some tourists are apparently giving the deer other snacks.

Deer, usually feeding on grass, are ruminants and have a four-chambered stomach. If their first chamber is filled up with non-digestive objects, they are not able to digest them or discharge them from their bodies.

As a result, these deer may have died from malnutrition and weakened immune systems, among other factors.

"The deer that died were very skinny and I was able to feel their bones," Dr Maruko said. "Please do not feed them anything other than the designated shika sembei."

The Nara prefectural government plans to investigate the situation and step up efforts to warn visitors not to feed deer anything other than the specific food, such as by putting up signs with illustrations, officials said.

Members of the foundation, meanwhile, regularly patrol the area to protect the deer, designated as national treasures, from accidently swallowing discarded plastic bags or any other items that are not safe to consume.

CLEAN-UP OF PLASTIC BAG LITTER

On Wednesday (July 10), volunteers joined a cleanup campaign to get rid of plastic bag litter in western Japan's Nara Park in a bid to protect wild deer in the area.

Plastic bags discarded by tourists and others are seen as a threat to deer dwelling in and around the park in Nara, an ancient Japanese capital and a major travel destination.

Led by the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, volunteers picked up plastic bags and other garbage in the park as well as at Kasugataisha, a Shinto shrine, and Kofukuji, a Buddhist temple, nearby. KYODO