Abstract
Since ancient times, the Japanese have always had love for and a noble impression of deer; they worshiped deer as both messengers and beasts of the gods. However, today, approximately 600,000 deer are killed each year as being animals that are destructive to agricultural and forestry activities. Furthermore, almost all the dead deer are disposed of as garbage and are not used as natural resources. To establish a symbiotic relationship with deer, I think that it is necessary to search for value in eating venison and in using both deerskin and deer velvet. In this presentation, I report the present-day condition of relationships between people and deer, focusing on the value of using deer as a natural resource in New Zealand, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Scotland. I subsequently would like to discuss how to establish a symbiotic relationship between the Japanese and deer.
