9 of 14 Nara Park Deer Have Died from Eating Plastic

During dissection, mounds of tangled plastic trash were found in their stomachs with the heaviest weighing at 4.3 kilograms (9.5 pounds). This was retrieved from a female deer that had recently passed.

A veterinarian said that the animals might have mistaken the plastic for food, Associated Press reported via The Washington Post.

As said in the report, deer have four-chambered stomachs, however consuming something indigestible can be fatal as it leaves them weakened and malnourished. This was the case for the nine deer at the Nara Park.

Rie Maruko, a veterinarian working with the animal conservation group, said that the deceased deer were so skinny that he could feel their bones.

Featured image via Flickr / coniferconifer (CC BY 2.0)