Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks

TOKYO – Separate bear attacks in Japan killed one and injured four on Oct 24, officials said, days after the government vowed to toughen measures because of a record year of deadly assaults by the animals.

Before the latest attacks, bears had killed a record nine people this year, surpassing the previous high of six in the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.

Bears have been increasingly encroaching into Japan’s towns due to factors such as a declining human population and climate change.

In a mountainous village in the northern region of Akita, police received a report of a bear mauling on Oct 24 involving four people.

“One died and three are being treated at a hospital” after the attack, a local police officer told AFP.

Public broadcaster NHK and other local media reported that two of those hurt were doing farm work at the time of the attack, while the other two were injured as they went to help.

Police are investigating if a bear reportedly killed by a hunter nearby was the one that attacked the four.

In a separate incident in central Toyama region, an official told AFP “a woman in her 70s was injured in a bear attack” on Oct 24.

Japan’s new environment minister has vowed to get tough on bears, calling the attacks “a serious problem” and saying: “We are committed to further strengthening various measures including securing and training government hunters and managing the bear population.”

In an earlier case in October, a 60-year-old went missing while cleaning an open-air bath in northern Iwate prefecture, an environment ministry official said.

Bears have attacked tourists, entered stores and appeared near schools and parks, particularly in northern regions.

Japan has two types of bear: Asian black bears – also known as moon bears – and the bigger brown bears that live on the main northern island of Hokkaido. Thousands of bears are shot every year, although Japan’s ageing human population means there are fewer hunters. AFP