TOKYO – Japan’s environment ministry is warning that hungry bears may return to human communities in the spring after hibernating and may attack people.

At a meeting of related ministries and agencies on April 11, the ministry said it would send a notice to prefectural offices as early as in April, alerting them against bears coming out of their winter sleep.

The meeting was held in response to the record number of human casualties from bear attacks in the last fiscal year.

According to a report presented at the meeting, six people were killed by bears nationwide. Including the injured, the total number of victims was 219, with about 70 per cent of them attacked in the Tohoku region.

Bear sightings were believed to have increased in the last fiscal year due to a poor crop of beech nuts, which serve as food for them. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK