One of the most memorable experiences when you visit Nara Park, is encountering the area's wild deer. There are around 1,400 deer living around Nara Park, and they are closely connected with the gods. There is a legend that in AD768, the first of the four gods of Kasugataisha Shrine travelled all the way from Ibaraki Prefecture North of Tokyo, to Mt. Mikasa in Nara, on a white deer. Thereafter, deer were considered sacred, and killing one was punishable by death. Today, they are protected as Natural Monuments, and revered as holy animals in Nara.