Every summer, a bizarre phenomenon occurs at the Nara deer park.
Hundreds of deer would gather in the evenings, from about 6:30pm to 7pm, at the same spot.
Shortly after 7pm, the deer would leave and go back to different areas of the park.
According to Sora News, the gathering spot, also known as "shikadamari", is located opposite the Nara National Museum inside the park.
Last year, about 600 deer were counted at the spot.
This year, however, there were only around 200.
Photo via Sora News.
Cool Nara Guide/FB
Cool Nara Guide/FB
Photo via Sora News.
There are over 1,000 deer living in the park.
Y tho?
The reason why deer gather at the same spot, at the same time, every day, is unclear.
SoraNews reported that the deer may come to this particular spot to cool down as a large vent is located in the vicinity, but this doesn't seem to be a definitive answer either.
For instance, given that the park has ponds too, why not just congregate in the water to cool down instead?
The real reason remains a mystery.
Nara Park seeing dip in visitors
The park is a huge draw for tourists, as visitors can get up close and personal with the creatures by feeding them rice crackers.
With the Covid-19 outbreak, however, tourism has reportedly dropped by at least 80 per cent in Nara.
Here they are, chilling out in the quiet park earlier in May:
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Top photo via Cool Nara Guide/FB.