Japan’s govt creates first road map for bear population control

TOKYO - Japan’s government has created its first road map for bear population control, following a series of attacks by the animals on humans.

In November 2025, it presented a package of countermeasures against bears with initiatives to be undertaken by nine relevant ministries and agencies. The road map outlines the measures and the government’s aims to make them more effective before bears become fully active after hibernation ends.

Under the current policy, bears are to be taken if they are sighted. The road map shifts the focus to actively taking them in certain areas. The government is aiming for “coexistence between bears and humans” by fiscal year (FY) 2030.

Overpopulation concerns

At a Cabinet meeting on March 27, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said: “We prioritise the safety and security of the public and will devote all our efforts to constructing a system for how to respond when bears are sighted, as well as to achieve coexistence between humans and bears.”

Japan’s Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara was among those in attendance at the Cabinet meeting on bear damage.

A survey by the Environment Ministry shows that the brown bear distribution range in Hokkaido has expanded by 30 per cent, and that of Asian black bears on Honshu island grew by 40 per cent over 15 years from FY2003.

The number of human casualties in the 1980s was less than 30 a year. In FY2025, however, a record 237 people were attacked as at the end of February, resulting in a record 13 deaths.

The core strategy of “coexistence” aims to suppress bear sightings by taking the animals when they come within and around human settlements.

The government has said that the population of Asian black bears has grown too large and will cull about 20 per cent of these bears in the Tohoku, Kanto and Chubu regions, where human casualties have been especially high.

By taking more bears than the rate at which their population is growing – 14.5 per cent a year – the government aims to decrease the bear population to 62 per cent of current levels by FY2030 in the six Tohoku prefectures, 67 per cent in the seven Kanto prefectures and 63 per cent in the nine Chubu prefectures.

In the Kinki and Chugoku regions, which have seen minimal attacks, the government will maintain the bear population at current levels by taking the bears at a rate roughly equal to that of their natural growth.

Hokkaido, which is inhabited by brown bears, will follow its own management plan to reduce the population to 71 per cent of current levels by 2034.

Tripling number of staff

Personnel, equipment and resources involved will be expanded to facilitate active culling.

An Environment Ministry survey conducted in February and March showed 784 local government employees were responsible for operations including the taking of bears. A ministry official said quite a few municipalities have been unable to establish a system.

The ministry plans to increase the workforce to 2,500, roughly three times the current level, through the deployment of licensed hunters hired by local governments. The number of box traps in use will be approximately doubled from 5,527 to 10,000.

The relevant authorities will work together on controlling the bear population alongside these measures.

The Environment Ministry has been tasked with fostering an understanding of the emergency hunting programme, while the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will cut down trees along rivers where bears roam.

Meanwhile, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will work on strengthening safety measures at schools.

The Defence Ministry and the National Police Agency will cooperate with retired personnel who are familiar with the handling of firearms.

Knowledge, experience essential

The road map, which was compiled in just four months following the announcement of the countermeasures package, does not yet contain fully fleshed-out details.

For example, only numerical targets linked to the number of bears to be taken and staff conducting the operations are provided, with no indication of what kind of personnel will be deployed or how they will be assigned.

“Simply assembling a sufficient number of people is meaningless,” a 77-year-old chairman of a local hunting association in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, said. “Without adequate knowledge and experience, bears cannot be taken safely.”

The government will hold annual ministerial meetings to review the road map.

“It is significant that they have outlined measures to be implemented within a set timeframe,” Iwate University Associate Professor Kiyoshi Yamauchi, who studies wildlife management, said.

“To ensure their effectiveness, the government must take responsibility and make revisions as necessary.” THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK