Nearly 7 pounds of plastic bags found in dead doe's stomach

A dead doe in the Japanese city of Nara was apparently found in late March with just over 7 pounds of plastic bags in its stomach, the Asahi Shimbun reports.

Members of the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization that takes care of deer in Nara Park, tried to save the doe on March 23 after a passerby contacted the group about a "deer near Todaiji temple" that couldn't stand.

Though the doe was initially able to feed and drink some water under the foundation's care, it died the next morning. The female was estimated to be 17 years old and weighed about 66 pounds.

An autopsy performed on March 27 revealed 7.05 pounds of entangled plastic bags in the first chamber of the doe's stomach, according to the Japanese newspaper. Deer have four chambers in their stomach — the first one stores food that the animals digest later.

"Sometimes, garbage is found in the stomach of a weakened deer," Rie Maruko, the veterinarian in charge of the autopsy, told Asahi Shimbun. "However, it's unusual to see such a large amount of it."

Maruko said the doe could have possibly died due to old age but did not rule out that the plastic in the animal's stomach could have been a factor.

"Apparently, she couldn't take in enough nutrition because her stomach was blocked by the plastic bags," he said.

Since March, six deer at Nara Park have been found with plastic bags in their stomachs, according to SoraNews24. The largest clump weighed nearly 9.5 pounds.

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