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Japan plans to muster former soldiers and retired police officers to hunt down bears, following a record number of human deaths this year as the country’s falling human population and climate change embolden the ursine population.
Japan’s cabinet office on Friday approved an emergency action plan to tackle a surge in bear attacks, which have claimed 13 lives and sparked alarm as the animals extend deeper into urban areas.
“We will strategically do what it takes to ensure the safety and security of the public and combat damage by bears,” said Minoru Kihara, the chief cabinet secretary.
Plans include using “advanced technology” such as drones to track and capture errant bears, the creation of buffer zones between forests and urban areas, and a new generation of “government hunters” to increase exterminations.
According to rough estimates cited in domestic media, Japan is now home to about 12,000 brown bears, all of them in northern Hokkaido prefecture, and 44,000 black bears, with the latter thought to have tripled over the past 12 years.
The problem stems in part from Japan’s demographic decline, according to experts, as the shrinking human population, particularly in rural areas and villages, has left more farmland fallow and led to forest expansion, drawing bears into closer contact with human settlements.
Last week’s discovery of the body of Kiyo Goto, a 79-year-old woman who appeared to have been attacked by a bear after going to the mountains in Akita prefecture to pick mushrooms, further fuelled public concern.
Surging reports of bear sightings and rising casualties have already hit tourism, disrupted transport and prompted widespread cancellations of school trips, outdoor festivals and sports events. Japan Post warned that mail collection and delivery could be suddenly suspended in the event of a bear sighting.
“Our citizens are forced to live in constant fear every day, and are even nervous to open their front doors for fear of a sudden appearance by a bear,” Akita Governor Kenta Suzuki told Japanese TV reporters ahead of the government’s latest announcement. “This should not be happening in modern Japanese society.”
The changing behaviour of bears has been attributed to numerous factors including climate change, which experts say has affected the availability of the nuts and fruits the animals need to prepare for hibernation, forcing them to roam more widely in search of food.
Koji Yamazaki at Tokyo University of Agriculture, who has studied changing patterns of risk-taking by bears, has also pointed to the thinning of Japan’s rural human population and the falling acreage of cultivated farmland.
The government’s plan includes fast-tracking the formation of new bear-hunting squads comprised of retired police and Self Defence Force veterans, who have already received firearms training.
Private gun ownership is exceptionally low in Japan, and the national roster of licensed hunters has halved to just 21,000, from 52,000 in 1975.
But a legal change in September authorised police to use rifles in urban areas if a bear was on the loose. Insurance company Tokio Marine has also rolled out policies covering property damage caused by stray bullets fired during bear-culling operations.
The government also noted the importance of managing public perception of the crisis, warning that “excessive complaints by the public could stifle the government’s culling efforts”.
Viral videos of bears straying into urban areas including university campuses, a supermarket, an airport and a bank have continued to broaden fears. A poll conducted by the state broadcaster NHK last week found that 71 per cent of respondents thought that government efforts to prevent bear-related injuries should be “strengthened further”, while 19 per cent said the response was “adequate”.
Other measures announced on Friday included building electric fences to protect residential areas and farms.
Yutaka Seki, managing director of the Japan Spa Association, was sceptical of such solutions. “Once bears are no longer afraid of humans, I think they will invade anywhere,” he said.
“The only way to deal with this is to try to eradicate them,” Seki added. “The atmosphere may be ruined by a fence, but nothing can replace a human life.”
