Oh deer: famous hoofed residents of Japan’s Nara wander as far as Osaka

The sacred deer that have been a fixture of the ancient Japanese capital of Nara for centuries are beginning to wander far from the city’s famous park, where they have been fed and adored by millions of tourists and locals over the years.A male deer was recently spotted in the Zengenji district of Osaka, around 40km (25 miles) from its normal habitat and 3km from the city’s bustling main station.The appearance of wild deer in one of the most urban areas in Japan has attracted crowds of curious locals, but city authorities have cautioned the public to keep a distance as the hoofed mammals could become “agitated”.Kevin Short, a naturalist and former professor of cultural anthropology at Tokyo University of Information Sciences, believes several factors may have caused the deer to abandon their traditional habitat in the spacious grounds of Nara-park" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="67818" data-entity-type="location">Nara Park.“Japan’s big cities have in recent years introduced extensive urban greening programmes, which have opened up opportunities for wildlife to find their way to places that they would never have reached in the past,” he said.“Deer are very adaptable, they eat a wide range of plant material, and new parks, green spaces and roads lined with trees could have encouraged them to expand their range. Officials have inadvertently created ‘green corridors’ that are bringing more wildlife into city centres.”A visitor interacts with deer at Nara-park" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="67818" data-entity-type="location">Nara Park. Local authorities have warned against agitating the animals. Photo: AFP