Overview
- In Niigata’s Uonuma City on Oct. 21, a resident reported a bear near a home at 9:15 a.m., police set traffic restrictions to secure the area, and a hunters’ association member killed the animal around 1:10 p.m. under an emergency shooting order.
- The Environment Ministry and local officials said this was the third such operation nationwide, following Sendai on Oct. 15 and Gunma’s Showa Village on Oct. 17.
- Sendai Mayor Kazuko Kori said the city’s emergency shooting met guideline conditions and went well.
- In Akita’s Yuzawa early on Oct. 20, four men were attacked by an animal believed to be a bear, including a 70-year-old hotel employee who suffered a broken collarbone.
- By 2 p.m. on Oct. 20, police reported the bear was holed up in a private residence in Yuzawa and officers were maintaining a security perimeter.