Bear control program begins in northern Japan

An operation to manage wild brown bears has begun in a town in Hokkaido, northern Japan, where a fatal bear attack occurred last year.

The initiative aims to make bears wary of humans, prevent them from intruding into residential areas and reduce their number.

It is conducted at this time of year, when bears emerge from hibernation and their tracks left in the snow make them easier to locate and capture. The program has been implemented by prefectures including Hokkaido and Akita.

On Monday, the program was carried out for the first time in Fukushima Town, southern Hokkaido, where a newspaper delivery worker was killed in a bear attack last July. The town also received a number of reports of brown bear sightings in residential areas last year.

A team including members of the local hunters' association and a drone operator worked in a mountainous area of the town, searching for signs of bears on the ground and from the air.

Michishita Shiro, the head of the local association, said bears used to hibernate deep in the mountains, but some have recently been doing so near human settlements. He said people should move beyond outdated assumptions and adapt to changes in bear behavior.

nhk