Overview
- The Environment Ministry convened an inter-ministerial meeting on November 6 with the Defense Ministry and National Police Agency to review the national bear-damage package.
- Proposals under consideration include authorizing police to use rifles in bear operations and appointing licensed hunters as public servants as “government hunters.”
- The ministry plans to ask former police officers and former Self-Defense Force members to obtain hunting licenses, with workshops within fiscal 2025 under review.
- Authorities say reliance on private hunting associations has strained response capacity as Class-1 firearm license holders fell from about 493,700 in 1975 to about 90,000 in 2020.
- A national “emergency shooting” framework launched in September is in place, but officials identify the shortage of qualified personnel as the central constraint.