{"id":125852,"date":"2025-11-09T06:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T06:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125852\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T06:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T06:42:10","slug":"japan-deploys-army-to-fight-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125852\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan deploys army to fight bears"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Japan is calling in its army to wrestle its ongoing bear problem<\/a>. Last month, the country\u2019s Ministry of the Environment reported that Asian black bear or moon bear (Ursus thibetanus) and brown bear<\/a> (Ursus arctos) populations have attacked over 100 people<\/a> since March. With at least 10 fatalities among the tally, the government announced<\/a> on November 5 that it is stepping up control efforts by deploying soldiers to Akita prefecture on the island of Honshu in northern Japan.<\/p>\n

In a statement to reporters<\/a>, Akita\u2019s Governor Kenta Suzuki called the situation \u201cdesperate,\u201d noting that sightings and attacks are now occurring daily. Threats are also increasing as the region\u2019s estimated 880,000 bears continue wandering into populated areas while foraging for food in preparation for winter hibernation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented rise in attacks is almost entirely due to humans<\/a>, and not the other way around. Climate change<\/a> is reducing their food sources, forcing them to venture into neighborhoods and business districts in search of alternatives. Urban development is also pushing further into the animals\u2019 habitats, while Japan\u2019s aging population<\/a> makes them particularly susceptible to attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, bears intrude into residential areas in the region and their impact is expanding,\u201d Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fumitoshi Sato explained, according to the Associated Press<\/a>. \u201cResponses to the bear problem are an urgent matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The threats from bears aren\u2019t only physical. Japan\u2019s NHK news outlet<\/a> reported that in one recent instance, bears devoured over 200 apples from a local orchard.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is broken,\u201d the farm\u2019s operator told NHK.<\/p>\n

As of now, the deployed troops aren\u2019t instructed to shoot the bears. Instead, they are currently responsible for setting up food traps, transporting local hunters, and dealing with any of their successful kills. However, Japan\u2019s hunters aren\u2019t generally used to bears as their prey. Because of this, officials are urging residents to undergo training as \u201cgovernment hunters\u201d to properly prepare for their excursions.<\/p>\n

In late October, Japan also announced plans to establish an official bear task force<\/a> by mid-November. Potential future steps may include bear population surveys, hunting law revisions, and even the use of a mass communication warning system for potential sightings.<\/p>\n

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Andrew Paul is a staff writer for Popular Science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the Popular Science daily newsletter\ud83d\udca1 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Japan is calling in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,43,139,69,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-125852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}