This photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Aug. 14, 2025, shows Mt. Rausu in Hokkaido. (Kyodo)
SAPPORO (Kyodo) — A missing male hiker was found dead on Friday, a day after being attacked and dragged away by a brown bear on Mt. Rausu on Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, local authorities said.
Police discovered the body, identified as that of a 26-year-old Tokyo resident, on a mountain slope about 200 meters southwest of the hiking trail where he had been attacked.
A bear and two cubs were found with the body and were shot dead. Authorities suspect they were responsible for the attack, and experts from the Hokkaido Research Organization will conduct DNA tests to confirm.
Objects, including a wallet and a bloody shirt, were found in the bushes near the scene of the attack and where the body was discovered. Blood was also found on the ground and on nearby trees, which appeared to have smear marks from something being dragged against them.
Authorities were notified around 11:10 a.m. on Thursday by the man’s companion after the two encountered the bear at an altitude of about 550 meters.
Entry to the mountain located in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage Site has been restricted since the attack, but police are searching for any possible remaining hikers in the area.
AloJapan.com