The Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Nara Women's University has learned that the wild sika deer that live in Nara Park in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and are bowing less often when receiving deer rice crackers. Ms. Haruko Uehara, a second-year doctoral student, Ms. Wakana Nishiyama, a graduate of the master's program, Shiro Tachizawa, a specially appointed assistant professor at the Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University, and Natural Sciences, Nara Women's University. A research group consisting of Emeritus Professor Keiji Wada, Associate Professor Takashi Ida, and Professor Yoichi Yusa of the Department of Science has found it.
According to Nara Women's University and others, there are 1,050 to 1,400 wild sika deer inhabiting the area around Nara Park, and feeding them deer rice crackers sold in the park has become a well-established tourist event.At this time, the sika deer bows in order to beg for the deer rice crackers.
The research group randomly selected about 3 sika deer per month from 2015 to 2021 at three locations in Nara Park, including the Nandaimon area of Todaiji Temple, and observed the number of times they bowed. While it was 1 times, it decreased to 20 times during the corona wreck.
The sika deer in Nara Park have bred for over 1000 years without interacting with the surroundings.For this reason, it is thought that bowing gestures were developed in groups to receive food.However, the number of tourists visiting Nara Park decreased significantly during the pandemic, and there were fewer opportunities to come into contact with people, so the research group believes that the number of bows may have decreased.
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Impacts of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on wildlife behavior via human activities
