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3w ago

Black Bear at Yamagata Airport Grounds Flights as Capture Efforts Continue

The incident underscores record human-bear clashes driven by climate change alongside rural depopulation that push animals into inhabited areas.

Les rencontres entre les humains et les ours ont atteint un niveau record au Japon, avec 219 personnes attaquées ces douze derniers mois (photo d’illustration).
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Overview

  • The bear entered Yamagata airport twice on June 26, first causing up to an hour’s delay for four flights before reappearing around noon and prompting the cancellation of 12 additional departures.
  • Airport staff attempted to drive the animal off the runway with a vehicle but were unable to contain it, forcing repeated closures of the only landing strip.
  • Hunters have set traps and police maintain a perimeter around the airport as of June 27, with the bear still at large within the grounds.
  • Akira Nagai, a Yamagata airport official, said runway closures made it impossible to receive any planes until the animal is captured.
  • Japan recorded 219 human-bear encounters and six fatalities in the year to April 2024, and experts link the rise to disrupted food cycles and an aging, depopulated rural landscape.