Nara prefecture’s namesake park is a popular side trip from Kyoto, famed for its collection of heritage temples and friendly bowing deer. In fact, Nara Park is also one of Japan’s most popular animal attractions, with visitors making it a point to come see the deer and feed them shika senbei, the deer rice crackers sold by vendors around the park.
Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a steep drop in visitor numbers and there are now fewer folks feeding the deer, the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation has recently started a campaign to stop the unnecessary feeding of the animals.
As locals worry that the deer might go hungry, people have started feeding them human food such as bread and vegetables which are not part of the animal’s natural diet. The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation has warned that these food items can cause tooth decay and may even poison the animals.
To help drive the point across, the foundation has reassured folks that the deer will not go hungry as they are able to survive on food found naturally in the park, such as grass, acorns and leaves.
奈良公園の鹿ストップえさやりキャンペーンを開始しました。詳しくは奈良の鹿愛護会スタッフブログをご覧ください。https://t.co/CnDZgYeM4F pic.twitter.com/WF3s6FeVdu
— 一般財団法人奈良の鹿愛護会 公式アカウント (@nara_aigokai) February 2, 2021
To discourage deer feeding, the foundation has started posting signs around the park notifying visitors not to offer the deer anything other than shika senbei. The sign (as shown in the Tweet above) lists food items to avoid, such as bread, vegetables, food from bento, and snacks like potato chips.
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