Humans are known to be extremely careless species at times.

We have all witnessed it. A trashcan just a foot away yet, someone rather throw their trash on the ground or anywhere besides the trashcan.

We can all do better.

The staff at Nara Park in Nara, seem to believe so as well. Recently, their staff has come across some a pretty disturbing reality when it comes to their park and the animals that reside there.

They are finding that many of their deer in the zoo are dying after consuming plastic materials.

One 17-year-old female deer died on May 24th. What shocked the veterinarians was that the deer had somehow consumed nine pounds of plastic causing the deer to die.

Deer, like cow and steer, cud their food.

Cud is when a portion of food returns from the stomach to be chewed again for the second time.

When deers eat plastic, they are unable to regurgitate, digest, and ingest new food. This is what happened to the 17-year-old.

The poor deer was discovered to be extremely malnourished and very weak. Her autopsy showed that she weighed a mere 66 pounds at the time of her death.

But she is not alone. Eight other deer in the park also died due to unknown reasons. But like the deer above, an autopsy was performed and they discovered six of them died due to excessive plastic consumption.

The park is doing all they can to stop the issue completely.

One major step is providing visitors with environmentally-friendly food bags.

When visitors walk in, there is a sign in the park that states, “When taking a walk in Nara Park, please take this eco bag.”

The bag is meant to be used repeatedly and is supposed to become softer and softer after each wash.

It may not be able to solve all of their problems but it’s a start.

Besides visitors feeding the deer themselves, there are those who dump their waste any and everywhere. Of course, this includes plastic waste.

Deers also have a very acute sense of smell so when guests have their bags, they know that whatever is in that bag, can go straight into their mouths!

However, even with such a powerful nose, deers are not able to differentiate between the food itself and the bag it rests in. Therefore, deer will also eat the bags unbeknownst to them that the material is killing them.

There are signs posted throughout the car asking visitors not to feed the deer any food they brought with them. Instead, they ask that only deer senbei, or deer crackers, be fed to the deer.

What is most ironic about the story is that due to Shinto religion, deer are considered sacred animals. Thus, are meant to be protected. But instead of protecting the deer, people have done a lot more harm than good.

Nara Park is the oldest park in Japan. It was established in 1880. The establishment has treated its deer population with much care over the years. The deer even have their own separate enclosure that they put the pregnant deer into where they can have their young.

If you believe we could all be doing more to help out these deer, spread the word and share this story with your family and friends!

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Source: Animal Channel