TOKYO (Xinhua) – Japanese authorities warned that human injuries caused by wild deer inhabiting Nara Park in western Japan have risen, with many tourists who approached the stags getting injured by their antlers, local media reported Tuesday.
Thirty-five people were hurt in September by the animals at Nara Park, a major tourist attraction, seven times more than a year earlier, with 10 hospitalised, the Mainichi Shimbun reported. Many of the injuries were puncture wounds of a few centimeters on the thigh or other body parts, it added.
From September to October each year, the stags are in mating season and become more aggressive, resulting in a few injuries. However, the Nara Park Office said the numbers of stags and injured people this year are both higher than usual, the report said. Nara Park’s male deer have had their antlers clipped at a rate of 10 to 15 a day since late August, but the antler clipping process has not kept pace with the number of deer, according to the park office.
A surge in foreign visitors to Nara City and people walking through the park holding deer crackers was also thought to be a factor. “Warning! Stags in heat are highly aggressive, especially during the peak month of October, and antler-related injuries are on the rise,” reads digital signage the Nara Municipal Government has been broadcasting at 12 major railroad stations in the city, in response to a request from the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation.
Nara’s deer, about 1,300 of which roam Nara Park and its surrounding areas, are designated as a national natural treasure in the country.
