Jun 12 (NHK) - Tokyo metropolitan government officials are stepping up efforts to exterminate a deer species that is destroying crops on the Island of Izu Oshima.
The officials say they will set up a team to capture the Reeve's muntjac deer by the fall.
The small deer is common in southeastern China, but is designated an invasive alien species in Japan.
Its population has exploded on Izu Oshima island after over a dozen escaped from an animal park in 1970 when a typhoon damaged a fence.
The officials say there are now around 13,000 of the deer on the island, far exceeding the human population of about 8,000.
They say the deer are eating the island's specialty produce, including ashitaba plants and camellia leaves.
