Overview

• Hokkaido prefectural police and firefighters are conducting continuous ground patrols and helicopter flights to locate a deer hunter in his 50s after bloodstains and his rifle were found near Mount Esan.
• Fukushima town has enacted Japan’s first month-long brown bear emergency with round-the-clock patrols following the fatal mauling of newspaper deliveryman Kenju Sato.
• Authorities issued a top-level alert in Hokkaido after repeated brown bear sightings and recent deadly attacks in Iwate, Aomori and Nara.
• In April the government eased strict hunting regulations to permit ‘emergency shootings’ of bears entering populated areas.
• Experts warn that acorn shortages, climate impacts and rural depopulation are driving bears closer to villages, prompting calls for residents to secure food waste and limit nighttime outdoor activities.