A move to cut down acorn-bearing trees in Japan’s Nara Park has sparked concern among researchers about the survival of the attraction’s free-roaming deer during the harsh winter.
Acorns serve as a vital food source for deer, while the trees also provide critical shelter, with the animals often gathering beneath dense canopies for warmth and protection in the colder months.
“The base of these trees becomes a critical place that determines whether the deer can survive winter,” said Shiro Tatsuzawa, a deer-population expert at Hokkaido University, according to Japanese television news station MBS.
Tatsuzawa voiced his concern for the animals after discovering an increasing number of fresh stumps in the park.
“Nobody seems to be considering things from the deer’s perspective,” he said.
The tree removal is part of Nara Park’s broader 2012 Landscape Plan, implemented since 2019, which seeks to restore the park’s Meiji-era scenery in 1880 – a landscape designated as a national cultural property in 1922. The scheme involves replacing large trees with traditional species like pine and cherry.
