One of Japan’s most spectacular islands is introducing a cap on visitor numbers in an effort to shield an endangered indigenous wild cat.

As of April 2023, not more than 1,200 vacationers a day can be in a position to journey to Iriomote, an island within the southern prefecture of Okinawa often known as the “Galapagos of the East”. Its pure magnificence has made it in style, in addition to the distinctive Iriomote cat that may solely be discovered right here.

The native authorities launched these measures as a part of a drive to stop overtourism disrupting the native ecosystem, in addition to the lives of residents, stories Japan Today.

The restrictions aren’t obligatory but however tourism officers are urging journey corporations to comply with them.

Iriomote is Okinawa’s second largest island, however the overwhelming majority of it stays uninhabited. It was certainly one of 4 areas in Okinawa and Kagoshima added to Unesco’s Natural World Heritage record in 2021.

Hundreds of hundreds of travellers go to annually, with a peak of 406,000 visiting in 2007; there are simply over 2,000 everlasting residents dwelling there.

The Iriomote cat was added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species greater than a decade in the past, with solely round 100 believed to nonetheless be in existence.