The deer around Nara Park are known for their bow-like behavior when receiving deer crackers, but as a result of the research group's research, it was found that the number of bows decreased before and after the spread of the new coronavirus.
Research groups at Nara Women's University and Hokkaido University have been conducting deer surveys since 2015.
According to the report, in the five months to January 2017, the "bowing" behavior when receiving deer crackers was performed on average 1.5 times while the investigators showed the deer crackers to one deer, but in the one year until June 1 after the spread of the new coronavirus, It was 10.2 times, a decrease of nearly 2021%.
In addition, the number of deer that appeared in Nara Park within a certain period of time was 6 on average before the spread of infection, but after the spread of the disease, it decreased to 1.
The research group analyzes that the number of tourists has decreased, deer have stopped coming to the park, and the opportunity to receive rice crackers has decreased significantly, which may have affected the "bowing behavior".
Professor Yoichi Yusa of Nara Women's University said, "'Bowing behavior' was acquired through interaction with people, and I thought that the number of bowing behaviors would decrease as contact decreased, but I was surprised to see such a change so quickly," and said, "This is a result unique to deer in Nara, which is highly dependent on people, and I think that if the number of visitors increases in the future, the number of bows will increase."