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The Japanese government is planning to hire hunters to stop a recent rise of bear attacks in the countryJapan has seen over 100 people injured this year by bears and 12 people have diedExperts say the rise is partially due to climate change and changing demographics in rural areas
The Japanese government is planning to recruit hunters to curb the recent rise of bear attacks in the country.
“Bears have been appearing in supermarkets, and there’s a possibility that a bear may be in front of your house when you wake up in the morning,” Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan’s defense minister, said at a press conference on Tuesday in Tokyo, as reported by The New York Times. “People are living in great fear.”
More than 100 people have been injured by bear attacks this year, and 12 people have died. The death toll is a new record for the country.
A Japanese brown bear.
Getty
On Thursday, the environment ministry said it would allocate funds to hire personnel to tackle bears wandering into residential areas, per the BBC.
Additionally, troops will be sent to the Akita Prefecture — an area in northern Japan — to help set traps and dispose of bear carcasses. However, current law prohibits troops from exterminating the animals themselves, instead that will be left to the hunters.
“The situation is beyond the scope that only prefectures and municipalities can handle, and the exhaustion of the field is reaching its limit, so we decided to make a request to the Ministry of Defense,” Akita governor Kenta Suzuki wrote in a translated Oct. 26 Instagram post.
Japan is home to two types of bears: the more common Asiatic black bear and the larger and more aggressive Ussuri brown bear.
The New York Times reports the increase of attacks is partially due to climate change and changing demographics. Scarcity of food in some areas have forced bears to move and Japan’s declining population means the wildlife can now wander into areas once full of people.
The population of these bears also continues to increase as the popularity of hunting the animals has largely dwindled. Additionally, the country’s available licensed hunters are aging and declining.
Recent attacks include one on Sunday, reported by The Japan News. An 85-year-old woman was attacked by a bear in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, while she was washing vegetables on her property. She reportedly suffered head injuries as a result.
A sign warning of bears in Japan.
Getty
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On Oct. 7, a bear injured two people in a supermarket in Numata City.
“A bear entered a supermarket, injuring one man, and another man was attacked and injured by the bear when he noticed the bear at the entrance and tried to escape,” officials from the Gunma Prefectural Government Office said.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported the men sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The next day, a man was found dead from a possible bear attack on a mountain in the Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 8, the outlet reported.
AloJapan.com