What is the aim of the reward system?
The reason why muntjacs, which originally live in China and Taiwan, have multiplied in large numbers in Chiba Prefecture is said to be because they escaped from a zoo and botanical garden in Katsuura City, Chiba Prefecture, which closed down about 20 years ago, became wild and began breeding in large numbers, mainly in southern Chiba Prefecture.
The muntjac was first spotted in Ibaraki Prefecture in 2017. Iimura Katsutoshi, assistant section chief of the Environmental Policy Division of the Department of Resident and Environmental Affairs of Ibaraki Prefecture, said:
“The first reported sighting was of an individual (a muntjac) that was run over and killed on a bridge in Kamisu City, close to the Tone River, which runs along the border between Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures.
Subsequently, a living individual was confirmed in the Yasato area of Ishioka City in December 2022, a dead individual was found in the riverbed of Chikusei City, Ibaraki Prefecture in September 2023, and a dead individual was found in Shimotsuma City in December 2023. All four of these individuals are males.
Muntjac animals generally act alone. Because they have a strong sense of territory, we suspect that a male that lost a territorial dispute in Ibaraki Prefecture may have wandered in, and that they have not yet begun breeding.”
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Regarding the reason for establishing the reward system for providing information on sightings of deer, Iimura stated as follows:
“Our prefecture is an agricultural prefecture, and at the moment we are already suffering from a lot of damage from wild boars and other animals, so to have deer sika deer on top of that is a major issue, and I don’t think it’s something that only affects other people.
For this reason, we have decided to first raise awareness of the deer muntjac among the people of the prefecture, and to raise the awareness of each and every citizen to distinguish between these animals, so we have established our own reward for anyone who sees one.”
Eligible information must be photographs or videos taken within the prefecture after April 1, 2024, and must capture the deer from an angle that includes the surrounding background so that the location within Ibaraki Prefecture can be identified.
These are sent along with an application form to the Ibaraki Prefecture Environmental Policy Division, and if certain conditions are met, 2,000 yen will be paid per piece of information.
In addition, if a hunting license holder or group that has obtained permission from a local government in the prefecture captures a muntjac within the prefecture, a reward of 30,000 yen will be paid for each animal. These systems will start on April 30, and photos and other information have already been provided, but all of the information received is said to be false.
“Everyone, it seems that awareness of the individual deer is still low, and we have only received about 10 images of wild rabbits and raccoons. Therefore, we have not yet seen any results from sending out the reward money.
Our request to all informants is that, as we would like to observe Kyon’s movements, we would appreciate it if you could provide videos instead of photographs, if possible.”