Japan sent troops on Wednesday to help contain a criminal attack that has targeted civilians in the mountainous region of the northern Akita region.
Reports of fatal encounters with brown bears and black bears are reported almost daily before the hibernation period as the bears hunt for food. They have been seen near schools, train stations, supermarkets and hot springs.
Since April, more than 100 people have been injured and at least 12 killed in attacks across Japan, according to environmental ministry figures in late October.
The encroachment of a growing population into settlements is taking place in a region that is rapidly becoming overwhelmed by depopulation, and few people are trained to hunt animals.
The government estimated the number of people in charge at more than 54,000.
The soldiers will not open fire, officials said
The Ministry of Defense and Akita Prefecture signed an agreement on Wednesday to send soldiers to trap boxes with food, local hunters to deliver and help dispose of dead bears. Authorities say the military will not use firearms to neutralize the bears.
“Every day, they are pouring into residential areas in the region and their impact is increasing,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fumitoshi Sato told reporters. “Answers to the bear problem are an urgent matter.”
The operation began in a forested area in the city of Kazuno, where the bear figures and injuries were released. White soldiers wearing bulletproof vests and carrying Bear spray and full launchers set a bear trap near the tree.
Takahiro Ikeda, an orchard operator, said the bears ate more than 200 of his apples that were ready for harvest.
“My heart is broken,” he told NHK Television.
Akita Gov. Kenta Suzuki said local authorities are getting “desperate” because of the lack of power.
Defense Minister Shijiro Koizumi on Tuesday the bear promoter is designed to protect people, but those service members’ main duties are to protect the country and they cannot provide unlimited support for the bear response. Japan’s defense forces are already out of action.
The service has not received requests from other counties for military assistance over the bear issue, he said.
In Akita Prefecture, which has a population of about 880,000, bears have attacked more than 50 people since May, killing at least four, according to local governments. Experts say the attacks took place in residential areas.
An elderly woman who went mushroom-hunting in the forest was found dead in an apparent attack over the weekend in the city of Yuzawa. Another elderly woman in the city of Akita was killed after encountering a bear while working on a farm in late October. A newspaper worker was attacked and injured in the city of Akita on Tuesday.
Population decline is a factor
On Wednesday, a resident of the city of Akita saw two bears in a persimmon tree in his garden. He was in the house and sorted out the bears as they walked around for 30 minutes. He told a local TV network that the bears came from another point and wanted to get into the room he was in, so he left the window.
Abandoned neighborhoods and farms with persimmon or chestnut trees often attract bears to residential areas. When you carry on getting food, they keep coming back, experts say.
(Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)
Experts say Japan’s aging population and the shrinking population in rural areas are one of the reasons for the growing problem. They say the bears are not endangered and need to be brought down for control.
Local hunters are getting old and can no longer be used for hunting. Experts say police and other authorities should be trained as government hunters “to help eradicate the animals.”
The government put the power to work last week to create an official response to the bear in mid-November. Authorities are considering Bar Population surveys, the use of communication devices to issue warnings and revisions to hunting laws.
The lack of preventive measures in the northern regions has led to an increase in the number of people, said the Ministry.
