Updated March 16th, 2020 at 13:35 IST
Japan: Deer in Nara roam city streets in search for food due to drop in tourist footfall
Deer in Japan are being forced to venture out of their natural habitats due to the fall in the number of tourists that usually feed them.
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Due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, tourism in Japan has significantly fallen. This has forced the deer in the Japanese city of Nara to venture into the city in search of food. Tourists would normally buy rice crackers from local vendors which they would use to feed the deer.
Forced to enter the city
Images of deer walking on the street and in the city centre have been widely shared on social media. Locals have claimed that they have never seen the deer act like this before. According to reports, the Shunie festival which usually takes place from March 1 and March 14, and during the span of this festival the deer would have been well fed by tourists but due to a drop of over 80 per cent in tourist footfalls they are going hungry.
In this city in Japan, deer are used to live and adapt to the life, they've learned when to stop or walk and even saying thank you. 🦌 pic.twitter.com/wzouFseL85
— ELEONORA (@bellalilli16)
god this deer is such a mood it looks exactly like me and dan in japan train stations just confused and overwhelmed pic.twitter.com/DdcN9U0nSF
— katie (@_kttg)
Read: Bank Of Japan Holds Emergency Policy Meeting After Fed Cut
Read: Japan's Veteran Footballer Keisuke Honda Scores On Debut For Botafogo
奈良の鹿が観光客激減で駅前や市街に出てきてるなんて。あらまー pic.twitter.com/MWnnjAluFh
— まいてぃ999@3/17誕生日FANP待ってるぜぇ (@mighty999)
今朝の🦌動画
— okadennis (@okadennis)
コンビニへ寄り道の巻😁#奈良#鹿 pic.twitter.com/bnqJnqCyyI
JR奈良駅までシカ来てる!!
— Web系YouTuberタカモリ (@takamoriWebtube)
ヤバ!
マジで鹿煎餅なくなったんやな! pic.twitter.com/ZjIRyxeLtc
Read: Japan Witnesses Largest Daily Spike In Coronavirus Cases, Total Tally At 805
Read: 'Tokyo Olympics To Be Held As Per Schedule, Inauguration On July 25': Japan PM Shinzo Abe
3月2日朝のJR奈良駅、30年住んでるけどはじめて、奈良公園から2kも離れた所に鹿が。観光客が鹿せんべいをくれないから遠くまできて朝食。奈良に来て鹿せんべい食べさせて! pic.twitter.com/OuSyYJ8KYo
— まるちゃん (@lovemaruchanday)
As per reports, the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation has claimed that this behaviour should not alarm the local population and that this is not the first time that the deers have been forced to roam the streets. But the foundation also added that they do not have the data about how much the deer population has grown in the last year. Japan has reported a total of 839 cases and 24 deaths due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Monkeys go hungry
In a similar occurrence, thousands of monkey's in Thailand that are usually fed by tourists have been going hungry and turning aggressive because of the drop in the number of tourists. A video has recently surfaced that shows gangs of monkeys searching for food and as soon as the groups realize that one of them has a banana they jump over him and to get that one piece.
Hundreds of hungry monkeys in Thailand fight over food like ”rival gangs” as tourists who normally feed them stay away because of coronavirus pic.twitter.com/nl4qlpczyu
— Just Travel 🗺 (@JustTraveI)
As per reports, even the locals were shocked by the behaviour of the monkeys. One of the witnesses was quoted in reports saying that the monkeys looked more dangerous than the dogs and that he had never seen them so ferocious before. Lopburi is home to thousands of Monkeys. In the city, there are usually two groups of monkeys, one those who inhibit ancient Buddhist temples and another who wander around on the city roads. While the two groups do not clash with each other under normal circumstance, but the lack of tourists and scarcity of food have forced them to do so.
(Image Credit: @@takamoriWebtube/Twitter)
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Published March 16th, 2020 at 13:35 IST