Photo/Illutration A police officer calls out to visitors not to be violent toward wild deer in Nara Park in Nara on July 25. (Ko Sendo)

NARA--Authorities here issued a plea to tourists not to mistreat the wild deer at Nara Park after video footage went viral of a man kicking one of the protected animals.

The deer are a major attraction and visitors are encouraged to feed them special “shika senbei” rice crackers. But lately, though, reports have emerged of people being unkind to the deer.

Local authorities working with the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation used loudspeakers at the park on July 25 to announce, “Any act that harms the deer may be punishable by law.”

About 50 people--police officers, prefectural officials and foundation staff--turned out to get the message across.

“Deer live here,” they called out. “Let’s take good care of them.”

They also handed out flyers to visitors in the park.

The call-outs were done in English and Chinese, as well as Japanese.

The deer are designated as a national natural monument, and any act that harms them can result in prosecution under the Cultural Assets Preservation Law.

The video that went viral and prompted the day’s turnout showed a man at the park in a white T-shirt kicking a deer and hitting the animal on the head.

Since the video went viral, police have received numerous calls from the public asking them to “protect the deer.”

Even before the video, police received several complaints every month.

One time, they were told, “There is a tourist riding a deer at the park.” Usually, the complaints are about people feeding the animals with food other than the designated rice crackers.

But after the video went viral, police began to receive more calls.

In 2021, a man admitted killing a deer in the park with an ax and was handed a 10-month prison term, suspended for three years.

The penalty for violating the law is imprisonment of up to five years, or a maximum fine of 1 million yen ($6,500).

A 35-year-old tourist visiting the park from Australia said: “Kicking deer is not a good thing. I think tourists need to follow the rules carefully.”

Nobuyuki Yamazaki, secretary-general of the foundation, said, “It is important to promote the rules so people coming to the park will be considerate to the deer.”

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