Brown bear weighing over 300 kilos culled in Hokkaido, northern Japan

A brown bear weighing more than 300 kilograms has been culled by hunters in a farming town in Hokkaido, northern Japan.

The bear was found in a box trap on Sunday in the town of Tomamae. The trap had been placed near a field and an area of pasture.

A local hunters’ group says the bear was a male, about 2.2 meters long, and weighed 330 kilograms. The animal had apparently come out of hibernation recently.

A video taken by the leader of the hunters’ group, Hayashi Toyoyuki, shows the bear growling inside the box trap. The bear was caught in an area where farmers last summer complained about their corn being destroyed by wild animals. In November, a brown bear weighing 380 kilograms was culled in the same area.

Hayashi said he is surprised by the weight of the bear because the animals are usually skinny after coming out of hibernation in spring.

He said the bear must have gained weight by eating wheat and corn before hibernating. He added that there have been sightings of several other bears in the area, so his group will remain on the alert.