Kyoto Pref.’s 1st emergency shooting conducted after 2 bears found at residence

A bear is seen at a home in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture. (Photo courtesy of the Maizuru Municipal Government)

KYOTO — Two bears were found under the eaves of an annex at a home in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on Sept. 3, prompting the city government to authorize the prefecture’s first emergency shooting operation. Both bears were tranquilized and later culled.

At around 5:10 p.m., a nearby resident called police to report seeing bears under the eaves of a house in the city. Officers and city officials who arrived at the scene found two bears — one believed to be an adult and the other a cub — sheltering under the eaves of an annex on the property.

According to the city, two residents of the home took shelter inside the main house, and no injuries were reported. After consulting Kyoto Prefectural Police and the prefectural government, the city decided at 6:05 p.m. to carry out an emergency shooting operation. From 9:40 p.m. a contractor hired by the city fired shots from a tranquilizer gun and struck both bears. The animals were subsequently put down.

According to the prefectural government, this was the first emergency shooting operation conducted in the prefecture. City officials said the adult bear was a female weighing approximately 25 kilograms, while the cub was a male weighing about 5 kg.

The site is about 4 kilometers north of JR Higashi-Maizuru Station, near a municipal junior high school and a hospital. There were reportedly 230 bear sightings in the city between April and August this year.

(Japanese original by Hiroyuki Ota, Kyoto Bureau)