Japan’s killer bears have developed a chilling taste for human flesh, experts have warned – amid a growing spate of attacks on people.
After centuries of coexistence with humans, Japanese bears, which usually eat plants and insects, are running wild, killing and injuring more humans than ever.
According to The Times, the predators may have acquired a taste for flesh after consuming deer with hunters leaving carcasses in mountains that then become easy pickings for the beasts.
Yasushi Fujimoto, head of a hunting organisation told the newspaper: ‘The lack of professional hunters, like park rangers in Alaska financed by the government, is a problem when it comes to controlling the number of bears.
‘The mountain is turning into a restaurant for bears, because of the remains left on the mountain after hunting.’
File image shows an adult female brown bear chasing salmon in Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido
The number of people injured or killed in bear attacks in Japan in 2023 exceeded 200 for the first time
Public broadcaster NHK, reports that bear attacks are now on the rise in Japan. A record 219 incidents, including six deaths, occurred in 2023, it reported.
Last May, a fisherman was feared to have been eaten by a bear after a human head was discovered and boots spotted dangling from a bear’s mouth on Japan’s Hokkaido island.
Last year, 54-year-old fisherman, Toshihiro Nishikawa, had been dropped off at a remote fishing location by the lake in Horokanaion but did not return.
A boat operator who provided transport to Nishikawa at the lake reportedly witnessed a bear that had fishing boots dangling from its mouth on that same day. The remains of a human head were later discovered, close to where the fisherman had last been seen.
While bears live on mainly vegetarian and insect diets, experts believe that heavy rainfall last summer, which was then followed by drought, reduced the population of insects and the harvest of fruits on which bears indulge in ahead of their hibernation.
As a result, this has left them to look for alternate sources of food, with experts speculating that they may have acquired a taste for flesh.
Japanese authorities have urged people to remain vigilant in light of the growing bear attacks.
According to The Guardian, Japan’s bear population is on the rise, with one recent estimate putting the number of black bears at 44,000 – compared with 15,000 estimated in 2012. This does not include Hokkaido, which is thought to be home to about 12,000 Ussuri brown bears.
Conservationists have called for more to be done to improve natural habitats for bears, while bear shootings have been heavily criticised.
Just last month, Japanese media reported that a karate expert, aged 50, managed to fight off a bear attack.
Masato Fukuda was only lightly injured in his encounter with a pair of bears in April in Nayoro city, on the northern island of Hokkaido.
He was on a walk to see a waterfall in Nayoro’s mountainous area at around 10.30am when he chanced upon the two brown bears poking their faces out of bushes, Japanese media reported.
In April, Masato Fukuda was only lightly injured in his encounter with a pair of bears on Thursday morning. He is pictured here speaking to Japanese TV station NHK
The two bears picked the wrong person to mess with when they approached the 50-year-old, who was visiting the woodland area from Toyota City.
One of them came towards him – but unfortunately for the animal, Mr Fukuda was experienced in the martial art of karate.
However, measures are being introduced to clampdown on the growing bear attacks.
The prefecture of Toyama, in central Japan, is planning to trial an AI bear warning system following the record number of attacks as the animals struggled to find food, Fortune reported.
The pilot system will monitor live feeds from government, municipal and private security cameras in order to identify bears in areas close to humans. If successful, the scheme will be rolled out in other parts of Japan with large bear populations.
