A record number of bear attacks across Japan sparked widespread concern last year and claimed six lives, prompting repeated warnings from authorities and wildlife experts.
Of the 219 attacks in the past 365 days, one of the most publicized attacks occurred when a brown bear allegedly beheaded a Hokkaido fisherman.
Brown and black bears are under stress from depleted food sources and growing human populations. In Japan, bears wake up from hibernation at this time of year hungry and looking for food. Authorities have already cataloged 32 sightings across the country since April 1 South China morning post reported – 50% more than average.
Bears in a bad mood
Kevin Short, a naturalist and former professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Information Sciences in Tokyo, says it’s common for bears to wake up “in a bad mood” after the winter. But the poorer conditions when searching for food bring them to the edge of the abyss.
“Last fall there was an almost complete failure of the nut crop, especially beechnuts, and that is exactly what the bears rely on to fatten up just before hibernation,” he explained. “The harvest was the worst I can remember, and many bears went into hibernation without sufficient energy reserves to survive the winter.”
A warm, short winter also contributed to the situation, which has become much worse in recent years. An official report from 2023 published by the Nippon Times showed that sightings in 2019 and 2020 were near record levels. Attacks, on the other hand, skyrocketed in 2023. No year since 2006 has more than 150 occurred.
“More and more rural farmland in the foothills that once served as a buffer zone between bears and humans is disappearing,” Shinsuke Koike, a specialist in biodiversity, forest ecosystems and bears at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, told the BBC. “We now have to think about how we can bring the bears back to the mountains.”
Hunting ban lifted
Prefectural governments have taken both violent and nonviolent measures to this end. Japanese public broadcaster NHK last year released a series of 30-second educational videos on what to do during bear encounters. And Hokkaido has legalized bear hunting again after a decades-long ban.
The 1990 ban protected the bears while their numbers dwindled to about 5,000. But now the population in the prefecture has reportedly doubled. As of 2021, over 12,000 bears roamed Hokkaido. Of these, the government captured and killed over 1,000.
Elsewhere, farmers and villagers are using robotic “monster wolves” and live dogs to keep bears at bay.
Still, encounters are likely to increase as Japan’s rural population continues to decline. And uninformed tourists can be at particularly high risk in areas like Hokkaido.
As always, experts urge backcountry visitors to be prepared for the presence of bears and educated about safety.
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