Article ID: 2401
Abstract: We used faecal analysis to assess the diets of sika deer from Tobihino Park and Kasugayama Forest Reserve (KFR) in Nara, Japan. In Tobihino Park, the lawn grass Zoysia japonica was an important food source from spring to autumn, whereas higher-fibre foods were consumed in winter. In the KFR, deer consumed mostly fibrous foods and other unidentified materials (seed fragments, bud scales, etc.), and leaves formed a relatively minor part of their diet, even in summer. These differences reflected the understory plant communities of the respective sites. Deer from the KFR mostly consumed plants endemic to the forest, impacting forest structure and regeneration. These results highlight the challenges inherent in balancing the maintenance of “park deer” and the conservation of forests around the KFR.
