A surge in bear attacks on people in Japan is worrying the authorities and experts. According to the Japanese ministry of environment, 212 people have survived bear attacks so far this year. This year’s total has already far surpassed the 158 that took place throughout the whole of 2020 (the previous record year), CNN reported.
Bears are known to inhabit northern Japan, where they roam in the mountainous areas having bushes and rivers. Such regions have been their traditional habitats, providing them with food which includes acorns, beechnuts, fruits, insects etc.
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The experts are worried because Japan’s bears are increasingly coming out of their traditional habitats. Their increased presence in human inhabited areas resulted in human-animal conflicts.
“Bears are expanding their home range this year and are coming down to areas near human settlements in search of food,” said associate professor Maki Yamamoto, who studies bears at the Nagaoka University of Technology in Niigata.
Possible reasons behind increased human conflict with bears
Some experts believe that climate change is one of the major reasons behind the increased bear attacks. Experts believe that due to climate change, production of acorns, fruits etc. is getting affected. When bears face lack of food sources in their natural habitats, they are forced to venture into human settlements.
{{/usCountry}}Some experts believe that climate change is one of the major reasons behind the increased bear attacks. Experts believe that due to climate change, production of acorns, fruits etc. is getting affected. When bears face lack of food sources in their natural habitats, they are forced to venture into human settlements.
{{/usCountry}}“The thing is that you can have years of bad harvests and years of good harvest of acorns. And when the harvest is bad, the bears cannot store enough energy before hibernation by eating mountain acorns alone, so they get closer to human settlements looking for fruits, chestnuts, persimmons, walnuts, and farm products in general,” Yamamoto, from Nagaoka University of Technology, explained.
Yamamoto said that this year, bears have been seen more in villages due to very bad harvest of acorns from the beech, their favourite tree.
Bear attack victim accounts
A Japanese local named Sato who has been a victim of bear attack, highlighted that residents have sighted bears near their doorsteps and some have suffered attacks from the animal.
“People are becoming very alert to this situation,” said Sato.
Environment Minister Shintaro Ito has promised to take necessary steps to combat the menace of bear attacks. The minister said the government is considering emergency assistance to local communities in response to their needs, such as surveying and capturing bears living in the vicinity of human settlements.