A surge in bear attacks in Japan has forced the government to relax rules on “emergency shootings” in populated areas, amid concerns over whether municipalities can secure hunters skilled enough to respond without putting residents at risk.
Advertisement
From April this year, Japan, mainly in its northern parts, saw a high number of attacks and damage caused by bears, resulting in six human deaths, matching a record set in the year from April 2023 to March of the following year, according to Ministry of Environment statistics.
A new fatality record, tallied over the financial year rather than the calendar year, is likely to be set following the recent deaths of two men in suspected bear attacks, though the deaths have yet to be officially ruled as such.
Experts say an increasing number of incidents have occurred in residential areas compared with the past few years.
The Sapporo local government in Hokkaido said there had been 71 sightings of brown bears or confirmation of their presence through footprints or droppings in September, five times more than the same month the previous year and the highest for a month in the past decade.
Advertisement
“The bears are coming nearer to humans, to our residential areas. What is scary is that they attack humans,” said Ryoji Suzuki, 76, who heads a hunters’ association based in Otsuki, Yamanashi prefecture, near Tokyo.