Nara: The Deer Roams Freely

Where can you find friendly deer in Japan? Nara. Located in Kansai, Nara is a popular tourist spot. Besides its many attractions, what seems to attract people is the many deer that exist in Nara. These deer roam about freely and are rather friendly. They’ll approach you, even bow to you in hopes for food. While the bulk of them are friendly, it’s best to keep in mind that they are still wild animals at the end of the day.

The likelihood of them hurting you is probably slim, but the city of Nara has signs warning you that it can happen, so keep this in mind. Another thing to be mindful of is to not allow them to have their way with your food. They are animals and as animals, they don’t realize that plastic isn’t edible. If they manage to obtain a plastic bag that contains food from you, don’t let them just have it. Plastic can and will ruin their health. Honestly, it’d be better to not give them anything at all than to allow them to consume something that happens to have plastic in it, be it a bag or a container. For those that really want to feed these friendly deer, know that you can buy senbei (rice crackers) from stalls easily. You can of course just give the food you have on hand with you, but just make sure it’s safe for the deer to eat.

I feel that it’s important for me to mention all of this because it allows us, as travelers, to take better care of living beings that may depend on us for food and whatnot. If a bunch of travelers go with the mindset that a little bit of plastic is not going to harm the deer, the reality is that a bunch of plastic will end up in the deer’s body. In the end, it’s the deer that will suffer, not you. So, please just keep this in mind as you enjoy photo opportunities with the deer.

Talking about photo opportunities, here are photos I took of the deer in Nara:

Home, home on the range.

Seeing people with food from afar.

Pondering who to approach.

I hope you enjoyed the photos of these majestic and peaceful animals.