Japan has posted the army to tackle a surge in bear attacks, in which 12 people have been killed since April.
In recent weeks, bears have attacked customers inside a supermarket, a tourist at a bus stop near a Unesco world heritage site, and mutilated a worker at a hot spring resort. Some schools have temporarily closed after bears were spotted wandering around their grounds.
Over the weekend, an older woman who went mushroom-hunting in the forest was found dead in an apparent attack in Yuzawa. Another woman died on a farm last month, and a delivery man was attacked and injured on Tuesday.
With the military now called in, troops have been setting up bear traps in the town of Kazuno, where residents have been urged to stay indoors after dark and avoid thick woods where bears might be foraging.
There have been more than 100 bear attacks with a record 12 people killed across Japan since April, according to the Ministry of the Environment. Two-thirds of those deaths were in Akita prefecture, where Kazuno is located, and in nearby Iwate.
In Akita, authorities say bear sightings have increased sixfold this year to more than 8,000, and attacks are on track to set a record. The local governor requested help from the Japanese military last week.
Encounters with brown bears and Asiatic black bears are being reported almost daily before hibernation season. The government has estimated the overall bear population at more than 54,000.
The Defence Ministry signed an agreement on Wednesday to post soldiers who will set up box traps, transport local hunters and help dispose of dead bears. However, they will not open fire to cull the bears.
“Every day, bears intrude into residential areas in the region and their impact is expanding,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fumitoshi Sato told reporters. “Responses to the bear problem are an urgent matter.”
Takahiro Ikeda, an orchard operator, said bears have eaten more than 200 of his apples that were ready for harvest. “My heart is broken,” he told NHK television.
Akita governor Kenta Suzuki said local authorities were getting “desperate” due to a lack of manpower. However, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi warned troops' primary mission is national defence and they cannot provide unlimited support for the bear response.
– With reporting from Reuters and AP
