Nara Deer Run Wild and Thai Monkeys Brawl as Covid-19 Strikes the Tourism Industry

The coronavirus season has taken its toll on the tourism industry, and the local wildlife are noticing the lack of their usual visitors. 

In Japan, the famous Nara deer have been spotted leaving their usual haunt in Nara Park in search of food, and have run amok all over the nearby streets – even stopping traffic! They usually subsist on a diet of grass, and more importantly the rice crackers fed to them by tourists eager to check out the deers as they bow to receive the food. However, due to the lack of friendly humans ready to offer them a snack or two, they are now wandering out of the park in herds to look for their beloved tourists.

Even though Nara Park is about a 20-minute-walk away from the train station, the deer have even made it all the way to the station grounds in their search, to the shock of local residents. Stripping bushes of their flowers and fruit, the desperate deer have been seen even chasing down a poor girl in an attempt to get some food!

奈良の鹿に目をつけられアタックされる女の子 – https://t.co/RdPTM5xfdo pic.twitter.com/6JYjd0NvTd

— Re:file（リファイル） (@gbbbsjp) March 7, 2020

Elsewhere, things haven’t been great for the animals either. In Lopburi, Thailand, monkeys have been caught on tape to great brawls in the streets after the lack of tourists meant that there was a consequent lack of food offered to them. The city is famed for its huge monkey population, and while residents say that fights among groups of monkeys aren’t an unfamiliar sight, they have never seen one quite this size – and over a pot of yogurt to boot!

Hundreds of hungry monkeys swarm across Thai street as 'rival gangs' fight over food after tourists who normally feed them stay away because of coronavirus https://t.co/lQZ0sOzwDF pic.twitter.com/8TgrCTBrQ8

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 12, 2020

With the slowed tourism due to the numerous travel advisories countries are putting out, it is no wonder that cases of reckless behaviour have been seen amongst the local animal populations. One can only hope that the situation gets better for these animals who are so reliant on human traffic to get their tummies filled!