Do this now
Follow these steps in order.
- 01
Treat every deer as a wild animal: observe from at least 3–5 metres away unless making a brief, controlled cracker handoff.
- 02
Check the current Nara Prefecture and Nara Deer Preservation Foundation guidance before visiting, especially in fawning and rutting seasons.
- 03
Buy only official shika senbei if you choose to feed; never offer bread, sweets, vegetables, leftovers or food carried for people.
- 04
Keep the crackers out of sight until ready, then offer one whole cracker at a time promptly with your arm extended.
- 05
Do not tease, make a deer wait, hold food above its head or force repeated bows for a photograph or video.
- 06
When finished, show both empty hands, close the bag and move away calmly without running, pushing deer or throwing food.
- 07
Keep children beside an adult, and do not let a child feed when deer are crowded, excited or at the child’s face level.
- 08
Do not touch, hug, ride, chase, surround or stand between deer, including a mother and fawn or animals confronting one another.
- 09
Photograph from the open visitor route without following, baiting, blocking or surrounding the deer, and obey property-specific photo signs.
- 010
Secure maps, food, paper and plastic bags; do not leave anything in a stroller or bicycle basket where a deer can reach it.
- 011
Keep feeding and stopping away from roads, watch for deer entering traffic and yield without swerving into another road user.
- 012
Call 119 for a serious human injury; use the named deer consultation or rescue contact for non-emergency guidance.
What to know
Begin with the fact that the deer are wild
The deer move freely through Nara Park and nearby roads, shrine approaches and temple grounds. They are not owned as a captive herd and do not become safe to pet because they approach people for food.
Nara Prefecture warns that deer can charge, gore with antlers, bite and kick. A calm-looking animal can react quickly when food appears, another deer enters, a person touches it or an escape route closes.
The deer are also nationally designated Natural Monuments. Do not hit, capture, injure, chase or deliberately frighten them, and do not treat protection status as permission to control an animal for a photograph.
What to know
Use 3–5 metres as the ordinary observation distance
A 2025 joint awareness campaign by the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation and partner organizations asked visitors to keep at least 3–5 metres from deer and not touch them. Use that as the normal distance for watching, resting and photography.
Feeding is the limited exception: approach only far enough to offer a cracker with an extended arm, complete the handoff promptly and restore distance. Do not remain beside the deer after the food is gone.
More distance is appropriate when a deer is resting, eating natural food, caring for a fawn, displaying aggression or standing where it cannot move away freely. A telephoto or cropped image is safer than closing the gap.
What to know
Feed only official shika senbei
Nara Prefecture prohibits feeding other food and identifies shika senbei deer crackers as the permitted visitor feed. Bread, sweets, vegetables, fruit, snacks and leftovers can harm deer and change their behavior.
Deer crackers are a snack, not the animals’ staple diet. Buying them is optional, and a visitor who does not feel confident can enjoy the park without feeding.
Keep your own food sealed and out of sight while feeding. A deer cannot reliably distinguish a cracker from a sandwich, shopping bag or paper wrapper held in the same hand.
What to know
Give one whole cracker promptly
Prepare before revealing the crackers. Stand on stable ground away from traffic, keep companions behind you and hold one whole cracker at the end of an extended arm so your hand, face and clothing do not move toward the deer’s mouth.
Give the cracker promptly. Do not break it into tiny pieces to prolong the encounter, pretend to offer it, pull it back, raise it above the deer or make the animal repeat a behavior for a camera.
Feed only one deer at a time when possible, and watch the space around you because additional deer may approach from behind. If the situation no longer feels controlled, stop displaying food and leave the feeding interaction.
What to know
A bow is not consent or a safety signal
Some Nara deer bow during a feeding interaction, but visitors should not assign that gesture a human promise of gratitude, obedience or permission. Regardless of why an individual deer bows, it remains a wild animal.
Do not withhold a visible cracker to force more bows, lean over the deer, bow so close that your head enters its reach or touch its head afterward. The correct response is a prompt handoff and renewed distance.
When no crackers remain, show both open, empty hands so the animal can see that the interaction is over. Close or put away any bag that still looks like food and move away at a walking pace.
What to know
Recover calmly when several deer gather
Visible crackers can attract several deer quickly. Do not run, scream, push the animals, wave the food overhead or throw crackers into a crowd; sudden movement and competition can make the situation less predictable.
If it remains safe, hand over the remaining visible crackers promptly without teasing. Otherwise, stop displaying food and move toward staff or an open area; do not throw crackers. Show empty hands when none remains.
A dropped bag is not a reason to wrestle with a deer. Protect people first, alert park or foundation staff and follow their direction rather than pulling paper or plastic from the animal’s mouth at close range.
What to know
Keep children beside an adult
Nara’s official visitor guidance asks that children feed with an adult. A child’s face can be near a deer’s head, and sudden movement, fear or an excited group of deer can turn a simple handoff into a fall, bite or headbutt.
An adult should hold and present the cracker or guide the child’s arm, watch behind the child and end the interaction before deer crowd in. Do not ask a child to pose between deer or hold an entire stack of crackers.
Skip feeding when the child is frightened, cannot stand steadily, is seated at deer-head height or cannot follow the empty-hands and walk-away steps. Watching from a safe distance is a complete park experience.
What to know
Give mothers and fawns extra space
The birth and early-care period runs from around mid-May through early July, and mothers can be particularly protective. Do not approach, touch, move or pose with a fawn, even when it appears to be alone.
A mother may be feeding nearby or return after a person leaves. Touching or surrounding the fawn can disturb normal care and place both the visitor and deer at risk.
Step back by the route you came, keep children and dogs away and tell park or foundation staff if a fawn appears injured, trapped or in immediate danger. Do not attempt a rescue yourself.
What to know
Expect stronger male behavior from September to November
The autumn rut generally runs from September through November. Males can become aggressive around other deer and people, and official guidance warns visitors to be especially cautious during this period.
Antler removal reduces one hazard but does not make a male tame: a male whose antlers have been cut can still be aggressive and dangerous. Do not stand between a male and female, between confronting males or inside a group’s escape route.
Back away if a deer advances repeatedly, blocks your path or becomes agitated around other deer. Do not challenge it, touch the head or turn the moment into a close video.
What to know
Photograph without following or staging
Ordinary photography is not a blanket-prohibited activity across Nara Park, but a photograph does not justify approaching, chasing, baiting, touching or surrounding a deer. Stay on the open visitor route and keep the normal observation distance.
Do not follow a deer that turns away, move a resting animal, place a child beside it, use crackers to lure it toward a road or shrine structure, or repeat a feeding behavior for multiple takes. Keep tripods, selfie sticks and groups out of the route.
Shrines, temples, museums, gardens and event areas can set their own photography rules. Obey the sign and staff instruction for the exact property, including no-photo, no-flash, tripod and commercial-shoot restrictions.
What to know
Secure paper, plastic, food and luggage
Deer may pull at maps, pamphlets, paper bags, plastic shopping bags and food packaging. Keep them zipped inside a bag rather than in a hand, open stroller, bicycle basket or outer pocket.
Nara Prefecture states that there are no trash bins in Nara Park. Carry every wrapper, seal, tissue, bottle and damaged item away, and use only a bin outside the park that expressly accepts that waste.
Do not feed paper to a deer or leave waste where it may be eaten later. If a deer takes an item, avoid a close struggle and contact park or foundation staff with the location and description.
What to know
Keep the encounter away from roads
Deer cross roads inside and around the park, and vehicle collisions remain a serious problem. Do not display or offer crackers at a curb, crossing, parking entrance or roadway because food can draw an animal into traffic.
Anyone using park roads should slow down, scan both sides and be ready for deer to enter the road. Yield in a controlled way without swerving suddenly into pedestrians, bicycles or oncoming traffic.
If a deer is struck, stop in a safe place, warn other road users and call the police. During the foundation’s stated hours, also report the injured deer to its rescue contact; for a night traffic accident, its current contact page directs callers to Nara Police.
What to know
Wash after contact and treat injuries seriously
The safest plan is not to touch a deer. If contact occurs, wash your hands promptly and do not touch your face, eat or handle a child’s food before cleaning them.
Move to safety after a bite, kick, antler injury or fall. For severe bleeding, breathing difficulty, loss of consciousness, inability to move or another serious human emergency, call 119 and give the nearest landmark.
Nara Park’s Deer Consultation Room accepts deer-related injury consultations at 0742-26-7755. This does not replace emergency medical care; use it for park-specific guidance after immediate human safety has been addressed.
What to know
Report an injured or abnormal deer without handling it
Do not touch, move, feed or restrain a deer that is injured, entangled, collapsed or behaving abnormally. Keep people back, note the exact location and visible condition, and let trained staff decide the response.
The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation’s current contact page lists 0742-22-2388 for deer rescue consultation from 08:30 to 17:15. Its guidance sends callers to Nara Police at 0742-20-0110 for a deer traffic accident after 17:15.
Use 110 when an active road incident requires police, and 119 for a serious human medical or fire emergency. Do not describe the foundation number as a guaranteed 24-hour service when its published contact hours are limited.
If that does not work
Use the fallback.
- A deer approaches without food being offered: keep hands visible, do not touch it and walk away calmly when the route is open.
- Several deer crowd around visible crackers: do not run or throw them; complete the handoff without teasing, show empty hands and move away.
- A child is frightened or at deer-head height: stop the feeding plan and observe together from at least 3–5 metres away.
- A fawn appears alone: keep your distance and leave it in place; contact trained staff only if it appears injured or trapped.
- A male is active during the autumn rut: increase distance and do not stand between deer or block their route.
- A deer takes paper or plastic: do not wrestle with it; note the location and alert park or foundation staff.
- A photo requires following, baiting or surrounding the deer: abandon the shot and use a wider or longer-lens view.
- A deer is beside the road: do not feed; slow or stop safely and allow it to clear the traffic space.
- A person is seriously injured: call 119 first, then use the Deer Consultation Room for park-specific follow-up.
- An injured deer needs help: keep people back and call the foundation during its published hours or police for a night traffic accident.
Before you need it
Save this offline.
- 鹿 · shika = deer
- 鹿せんべい · shika senbei = official deer crackers
- 野生動物 · yasei dōbutsu = wild animal
- 触らないでください · Sawaranaide kudasai = Please do not touch
- 餌を見せないでください · Esa o misenaide kudasai = Please do not show food
- もうありません · Mō arimasen = There is no more
- 鹿にけががあります · Shika ni kega ga arimasu = The deer is injured
- 人がけがをしました · Hito ga kega o shimashita = A person has been injured
- 場所は___の近くです · Basho wa ___ no chikaku desu = The location is near ___
- 救急車をお願いします · Kyūkyūsha o onegai shimasu = Please send an ambulance
- Deer Consultation Room · 0742-26-7755
- Nara Deer Preservation Foundation · 0742-22-2388 · 08:30–17:15
- Nara Police · 0742-20-0110 · night deer traffic accidents
- Fire / ambulance · 119
Primary evidence
Official sources used
Open these pages again before travel. External links lead to the responsible Japanese authority or transport organization.
