Tokyo: Japan has witnessed a sharp rise in bear attacks this year, prompting the government to announce plans to recruit licensed hunters to control the growing threat.
The environment ministry has allocated funds to support this initiative, which aims to protect residents from bears wandering into residential areas and attacking people.
The government has held its first high-level meeting to address the escalating bear problem. Officials have described the situation as a serious threat to public safety and are considering measures that would allow police officers to shoot bears with rifles when necessary. Authorities are expected to finalise the complete set of countermeasures by mid-November.
Twelve people have died and more than one hundred have been injured in bear attacks this year, marking the highest number of fatalities since records began in the 2000s. Incidents have occurred across the country, from Hokkaido to Iwate, with bears breaking into supermarkets, schools, and homes.
The issue is particularly severe in Akita prefecture, where Japan’s Self-Defence Forces have been deployed to assist local authorities in trapping and transporting bears.
Experts believe that climate change and food shortages, such as a decline in beech nuts, have forced bears to move closer to human settlements. Declining rural populations and an ageing hunter community have also contributed to the worsening situation.
Akita governor Kenta Suzuki has stated that those tackling the crisis have become increasingly exhausted, while Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has confirmed that troops will continue assisting civilian teams without using firearms. Japan’s decision to relax gun rules in September has also made it easier for residents to defend themselves from aggressive bears in populated areas.
This crisis has highlighted how environmental shifts and social changes are combining to create new challenges for public safety across Japan.
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