Japan city makes bags deer can eat after plastic bag-related deaths

Japanese city Nara, where deer roam on streets, has developed an edible bag for deers after several deer were found dead after swallowing plastic bags and food wrappers. The edible bags are made with recycled pulp from milk cartons and rice bran. Rice bran is one of the main ingredients of the 'shika senbei' crackers fed to deer by tourists.

Last year several of the 1,300 deer that wander around the ancient capital’s central park were found dead after swallowing plastic bags and food wrappers, prompting calls for tourists not to leave their rubbish behind. One of the dead animals had swallowed more than 4kg of rubbish.

So far about 3,500 of the bags, which cost ¥100 [73p] each, have been sold to local firms and organisations, including the city’s tourism bureau, according to media reports.

Nara’s normally tourist-friendly deer are believed to be divine messengers and were designated natural treasures in 1957.