Japanese city suspends 94 schools after first-ever bear sighting
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Bear attacks, including in urban areas, have been on the rise in Japan, prompting the government to set up a task force in 2026 to reduce casualties.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PIXABAY
TOKYO – The Japanese city of Utsunomiya suspended all 94 of the primary and middle schools that it operates on June 8 after its first-ever bear sighting, a municipal official said.
The city of half a million residents, about 100km north of Tokyo, said the bear was first seen in a residential area near a park on the evening of June 6.
It remained at large after the last sighting in the early hours of June 8, about 500m from a middle school.
Bear attacks, including in urban areas, have been on the rise in Japan, prompting the government to set up a task force in 2026 to reduce casualties.
Last week, a bear attack in the north-eastern city of Fukushima left at least four people injured.
Security footage from Fukushima Steel Works shows a black bear chasing a worker near the factory’s entrance and throwing him to the ground.
Asiatic black bears are listed globally as a vulnerable species, but their numbers are estimated to have tripled in Japan since 2012 due to a decline in hunting.
Experts say climate change has reduced harvests of bears’ natural food, including acorns and beechnuts, while the depopulation of rural areas and the proliferation of abandoned farmland have emboldened them to seek food near human settlements. REUTERS
