Bear attacks near urban areas in Japan have increased and the government is trying to find ways to assist local authorities. Last Friday, five attacks were reported, with one death confirmed. This led to a record 100 people attacked and 10 killed this year alone in bear attacks in Japan – last year there were 6 victims.
In a mountain village in northern Akita Prefecture, police received a report of a bear attack on Friday involving four people, with one death. Additionally, a local hunter was reported to have killed a bear nearby and that police were investigating whether he was the one who attacked the four.
In a separate incident in central Toyama, an official said a woman in her 70s was injured in another attack.
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This Tuesday (28), Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said that the Personal Defense Forces (SDF) plan to offer logistical help to local authorities to combat bear attacks in the northeast of the country that have caused human casualties.
The SDF is legally prohibited from participating in bear culling and the ministry has been studying ways to offer other types of support, such as transporting and disposing of bears killed in Akita Prefecture, ministry sources told Kyodo News agency.
“People’s lives and livelihoods are threatened. We will immediately start with what can be done,” Koizumi said at a news conference in Tokyo before meeting Akita Governor Kenta Suzuki.
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At the meeting, the governor asked Koizumi to consider sending SDF teams to help residents set traps and dispose of downed bears, saying the prefecture does not have the manpower to deal with the incidents.
Last week, Japan’s new environment minister, Hirotaka Ishihara, called the attacks a major problem. “We are committed to further strengthening several measures, including the safety and training of government hunters and the management of the bear population,” he said at a press conference.
According to a report by The Japan Times, Japan has two types of bears: Asian black bears and brown bears, which are larger and live in Hokkaido.
Thousands of bears are killed every year, although Japan’s aging population means the number of hunters is dwindling.
