Bears kill 1 individual, injure 4 in Japan as file variety of lethal assaults continues to rise

Separate bear assaults in Japan killed one and injured 4 on Friday, officers stated, days after the federal government vowed to toughen measures due to a file yr of lethal assaults by the animals.

Earlier than Friday’s assaults, bears had killed a file 9 folks this yr, surpassing the earlier excessive of six within the fiscal yr that led to March 2024.

The animal has been more and more encroaching into Japan’s cities resulting from elements starting from a declining human inhabitants to local weather change.

In a mountainous village within the northern area of Akita, police acquired a report of a bear mauling on Friday involving 4 folks.

“One died and three are being treated at a hospital” after the assault, a neighborhood police officer informed AFP.

Public broadcaster NHK and different native media reported that two of these harm had been doing farm work on the time of the assault, whereas the opposite two had been injured as they went to assist.

An area hunter reportedly killed a bear close by, and police are investigating if it’s the one which attacked the 4.

In a separate incident in central Toyama area, an official informed AFP “a woman in her 70s was injured in a bear attack” on Friday.

This week Japan’s new atmosphere minister vowed to get powerful on bears, calling the assaults “a serious problem.”

“We are committed to further strengthening various measures including securing and training government hunters and managing the bear population,” the minister stated.  

In one of many earlier deadly assaults, a 60-year-old went lacking earlier this month whereas cleansing an open-air bathtub in northern Iwate prefecture, an atmosphere ministry official informed AFP.

Bears have attacked vacationers, entered shops and appeared close to faculties and parks, significantly in northern areas. In August, a hiker in northern Japan tried to combat off a bear however was pulled into the close by woods the place he was discovered lifeless.

Japan has two varieties of bear: Asian black bears — also referred to as moon bears — and the larger brown bears that reside on the primary northern island of Hokkaido.

A bear in proven roaming in Japan on this undated screenshot from a video.

Hundreds of bears are shot yearly.

The impacts of local weather change on the bears’ meals sources and hibernation cycles has been cited by specialists as a key issue, however there are additionally implications as Japan’s ageing inhabitants shrinks and people abandon extra rural areas.