Man arrested for killing protected wild deer in Nara, western Japan
A man was arrested Tuesday for killing a wild deer last month in Nara Prefecture in western Japan, in violation of the law that protects cultural properties, police said.
Hayato Yoshii, a 23-year-old construction worker from Mie Prefecture, central Japan, has admitted to killing the deer, which are protected under the cultural properties protection law, with an ax.
Investigators quoted him as saying, While I was playing with some deer, I got angry because one of them suddenly rammed my car. I was determined to kill it.
File photo taken in May 2020 shows deer in Nara. (Kyodo)
Nara asks visitors to stop feeding the deer Feb. 4 04:00 pm JST Feb. 4 | 04:05 pm JST TOKYO
One of the most popular tourist sites in all of Japan is Nara Park in Nara Prefecture, where people can walk among free-roaming deer that cross at pedestrian crossings and bow to tourists in return for senbei rice crackers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, tourist numbers have plummeted, and with international travel restrictions leaving the park emptier than it’s ever been, the deer have been hungry for rice crackers usually fed to them by visitors.
▼ Sold by vendors on the park grounds, Shika Senbei (“Deer Rice Crackers”) are a popular way for tourists to interact with the animals.