Deer-Friendly Bags Created in Japan

Warm-up Conversational question: 1) What animals is your country famous for? 2) Do you think you'd enjoy working at a wildlife park or zoo? Why?

Page1 Deer-friendly bags have been created in Nara, Japan, to stop local deer from eating plastic left by visitors. The new paper bags are made from rice bran and recycled milk cartons. They were developed after nine deer died over four months in Nara Park in 2019 after eating plastic bags. One of the deer was found to have more than 4 kilograms of plastic in its stomach.

Page2 "We made the paper with the deer in mind," said Hidetoshi Matsukawa, president of one of the local companies that created the product. He said that the deer help to bring tourists to Nara so they need to be protected. The deer are also protected by law.

Page3 The city, which is 35 kilometers south of Kyoto, is home to over 1,200 deer, with most living in Nara Park. Visitors to the park can feed the animals crackers called shika senbei, which don't come in plastic packaging.

Page4 However, some tourists are thought to be feeding the animals different products, and leaving food packaging and plastic bags behind, according to Rie Maruko from the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation.

Page5 Maruko says the deer smell the bags and eat them because they think they are food. The park has signs in different languages telling people to only feed the deer shika senbei.

Page6 Each of the new paper bags costs 100 yen, or about 95 cents. About 3,500 have been sold to local organizations, and Matsukawa has said that the price will go down if more organizations start to use them.

Questions 1) What are the new paper bags made from? 2) What did the deer help to do in Nara? 3) According to Rei Maruko, what are some of the tourists doing? 4)True or False ▫️The deer is not protected by law. ▫️The paper bags were developed after four deer died over the past nine months. ▫️Shika Senbei crackers don't come in plastic packaging. 5) What are your thoughts on Nara's deer-friendly paper bags? 6) Are there many protected natural areas in your country? 7) Would you support a ban on plastic bags in your country? Why? Why not?