Overview

• Iwate Prefectural Police concluded that a body found on October 8 in Kitakami was killed by a bear, bringing the fiscal-year death toll to seven.
• The fatalities include two each in Hokkaido and Iwate, and one each in Miyagi, Akita, and Nagano, according to the Environment Ministry.
• Human–bear incidents totaled 99 cases involving 108 people from April through September, a pace the ministry says is the worst since records began in fiscal 2006.
• The Environment Ministry is urging precautions during the pre-hibernation period when bears are more active.
• On Wednesday night near Akita University in Akita City, a man in his 60s was attacked and injured, and authorities said his injuries were not life-threatening.