Bear Ransacks Shizukuishi Kitchen as Japan Logs 5 Deadly Maulings Since April
Updated
Updated · The Japan Times · Jul 15
Bear Ransacks Shizukuishi Kitchen as Japan Logs 5 Deadly Maulings Since April
1 articles · Updated · The Japan Times · Jul 15
Summary
Police in Iwate Prefecture were called Monday after a bear entered a Shizukuishi home, opened the fridge, scattered food and apparently left through a back door.
Footprints showed the animal also searched a bin for food waste, underscoring how bears are increasingly entering residential areas in northern Japan.
Shizukuishi has logged at least four other household bear intrusions since July 5, while sightings have jumped after bears emerged from hibernation.
Five people have been killed by bears in Japan since April 1—all in Tohoku—after a record 13 fatal attacks nationwide in the last fiscal year.
Scientists link the rise in encounters to a growing bear population, rural depopulation and shifts in the availability of the animals' usual food.