Bears have attacked over 100 people in Japan since March
Japan is experiencing an unprecedented bear problem. According to the country’s Environment Ministry, furry predators are confirmed to have killed seven people since March, the highest number on record since the government began tracking deaths in 2006. However, given the country’s ongoing ecological and demographic problems, it might be more accurate to say that bears are facing an unprecedented human problem.
Conservationists told AFP that multiple factors contribute to the increase in encounters between wild animals and humans. Many of the island nation’s bears rely on acorns as a staple in their omnivorous diet. As the total number of acorns declines due to climate change, bears are moving closer to cities in search of food. Warmer weather also disrupts animals’ normal hibernation habits, further complicating the situation.
Japanese authorities noted that one of the recent deaths included a man killed while picking mushrooms in a forest in Iwate Prefecture, northern Honshu. The animals also venture into some of the most populated areas of the country. Earlier in October, an adult bear measuring 4.5 feet tall wandered into a supermarket north of Tokyo. Although no deaths were reported, two men suffered minor injuries as the hungry bear roamed the store in search of food. Speaking to AFP, a grocery store manager confirmed the bear damaged a container of fish before “knocking over a bunch of avocados and stepping on them.” Between 30 and 40 customers were in the store at the time, as the bear “became agitated as it struggled to find the exit.”
The two buyers are far from the only recent victims. Bears have bitten or scratched more than 100 people in the past year. That’s slightly higher than the 2024 numbers, but less than half the number of injuries reported in 2023.
Many encounters involved older residents, which also highlights Japan’s aging population. And although bear populations on the islands have been reduced in the past during hunting seasons, the number of hunters also continues to decline.
Japan is home to two native bear species: the Asian black bear or moon bear (Ursus tibetanus), and the brown bear (Ursus arctos). Although the two are proportionally similar, the brown bear is generally larger and heavier. A brown bear can easily weigh 1,100 pounds while measuring nine feet from head to tail, and is known to outrun humans. According to the Department of the Environment’s brown bear safety advice, people are recommended to “curl up on the ground and protect their head and neck with both arms” in the event of an attack.
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