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Yesoensis

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In the past, Ezo, located at the northern end of the Japanese archipelago, was covered with pristine forests and the mountains and fields were teeming with Ezo sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis). When the Ainu people hunted deer, they used the meat as a valuable food source and the fur and hides as clothing. When this large island was named Hokkaido about 150 years ago, and development began in earnest, the deer were overhunted and at one point they were on the verge of extinction due to mass deaths caused by heavy snow.  Since then, hunting was banned when their numbers decreased, and when their numbers recovered, hunting was lifted and they were overhunted again, repeating this cycle.

 

In recent years, it is said that the deer population has become too large. As their habitat has expanded, Ezo sika deer have begun to appear in towns and cities. So-called "urban deer" walk through residential areas where the use of hunting rifles is prohibited, and they cross streets together. Tourists stop their cars and take photos in curiosity, but to the locals deer are vermin that eat crops and bark, and in addition to winter hunting, population management is carried out year-round. According to Hokkaido, the estimated population of Ezo sika deer in Hokkaido in 2022 is approximately 720,000. On the other hand, more than 140,000 deer were captured in FY2022.

 

Deer in Nara are designated as natural treasures and treated with great care as messengers of the gods, but although they belong to the same species, the relationship between humans and deer is quite different in different places. It is for the convenience of humans to pet deer by feeding them deer crackers within the boundaries set by humans, and to exterminate them as vermin outside of those boundaries. In a sense, the deer are like a mirror reflecting the contradiction of human beings. However, the deer are living in accordance with their wild instincts and adapting to human activities. The Ezo sika deer are beautiful, living in the northern lands without having their antlers cut off and with their magnificent antlers.

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