Study shows deer and boar habitats to spread across most of Japan by 2050

A deer that appeared at a park in the city of Osaka in March
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Wild Japanese deer and boars are expected to spread across most of Japan, except for major urban areas, by 2050, a study by a research team has suggested.The team, including researchers from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, is calling for measures to address the animals' expanding habitats.In the study, published in the British journal Scientific Reports in February, the team projected deer and boar habitats for 2050 and 2100, based on habitat data from 1978, 2003 and 2014, as well as simulations of migration, weather, land use and other factors.It found that deer and boar habitats could extend to the northeastern prefectures of Aomori and Akita, where their populations are currently believed to be small
The animals' migratory ability was the largest factor in the projection.According to the Environment Ministry, the estimated population of deer, excluding those in Hokkaido, was about 2.46 million at the end of fiscal 2022, and that of boars was about 780,000
The figures had jumped about 2.7-fold and 1.9-fold, respectively, over the four decades through fiscal 2018.In March, a series of deer sightings were reported in urban areas in Osaka Prefecture, possibly involving deer migrating from neighboring Nara Prefecture
One deer was captured in a residential district in the city of Osaka."Deer sightings are also increasing along rivers and in other areas in the Kanto Plain," including Tokyo, said Takahiro Morosawa, a lecturer at the university
"Their habitats may extend to urban areas unless sufficient countermeasures are taken."
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animals(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/animals), deer(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/deer), boars(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/boars), environment(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/environment)
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