Large parts of rural Japan, especially in the mountainous area of Tohoku, Hokkaido, and Honshu are traditional habitats for Asiatic black bears.<\/p>\n
They rely heavily on seeds such as acorns and beechnuts, but with recent years of poor harvest, the bears are venturing into residential areas in search for food. <\/p>\n
Experts also point to other factors for the sharp rise in bear encounters, including Japan’s aging and shrinking rural population. <\/p>\n
Fewer residents means less noise and activity to deter bears, so they’re more likely to wander and stay longer. Ecological change could also impact hibernation timing and extend periods when bears are active.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, it took officials an hour and 40 minutes to capture the bear after identifying its location about 2.5km south of the main railway station, according to Utsunomiya East Police.<\/p>\n
The bear, believed to weigh around 100kg, had been spotted by residents more than 20 times since Saturday – near homes, schools, and parks. It was also seen swimming in a river, and climbing over fences across backyards.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented sighting forced the closure of all 94 public primary and middle schools. Officials said there were possibly two bears in the city and urged residents to keep their doors and windows locked.<\/p>\n
Last week, another bear attacked and injured four people in a residential district of Fukushima city. That bear is yet to be caught after attempts to tranquilise it were unsuccessful. It broke into an electronics factory, but surprised police who had surrounded the building after reportedly escaping by unlocking a window.<\/p>\n
The Fukushima mayor said officials also saw the bear drinking water from a tap, adding it may have turned the handle itself, and describing it as being “extremely intelligent.” <\/p>\n
A search for the bear using drones has been launched.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Japanese government established a ministerial task force and introduced emergency response measures to address the rise in bear attacks and reduce casualties.<\/p>\n
Local governments and companies are increasingly turning to technology for solutions.<\/p>\n
A village in Fukushima prefecture is weighing the use of an AI-powered image analysis system for trail cameras, while KDDI SmartDrone says its unmanned aircraft system can help municipalities track bears without training. The drones are equipped with thermal cameras , and can follow bears through dense vegetation until hunters or police arrive.<\/p>\n
Other companies are also developing unique deterrents. In 2016, Ohta Seiki introduced the “Super Monster Wolf,” a solar-powered robotic wolf designed to scare away bears and other wildlife. The company says it has already received dozens of orders in 2026, exceeding its usual demand in a typical year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Large parts of rural Japan, especially in the mountainous area of Tohoku, Hokkaido, and Honshu are traditional habitats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-628968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}