“Urban bears” who grew up near urban areas, “new generation” moving into depopulated housing complexes, fear of “bear damage” increasing dramatically across the country – Smart FLASH[光文社週刊誌]

Bears have entered the human world.

“There are more bear sightings this year than usual.A characteristic feature is that they often appear in residential areas.In Akita Prefecture, 80% of the damage caused by Asiatic black bears to people occurs in areas near private homes. It’s happening in the area.” (Reporter, Social Affairs Department)

In Fukushima Prefecture, they invaded a nursery school, and in Niigata Prefecture they barricaded themselves in a private house… Bears have been appearing in residential areas one after another. How many bears are seen in areas where humans live, such as residential areas and urban areas? When this magazine surveyed all of Japan and compiled a map of residential areas where bears were infested, the number reached a total of 86 in Honshu alone.

[Related article: A raging brown bear gets stuck in a medicine can filled with boiling water and runs away in a panic…The secret story of the “medicine can bear” from Hokkaido’s pioneering days]

Kazuhiko Yoneda, director of the Japan Asiatic Black Bear Research Institute, explains that bears that appear in residential areas are more dangerous than bears that hide in the mountains.

“Bears that appear in cities are often in an excited state to begin with.Bears have a habit of cannibalism.If you live in the mountains, you can hide from the bears that would eat you, but in the city, you can hide from the bears that eat you.” They have no choice but to expose themselves.To them, anything that moves in the city seems like a bear that will attack them.If they move as soon as they see it, they will be attacked immediately.If they see a bear, they should first protect themselves. Hide it. If you’re found, don’t move.”

This year alone, more than 6,500 reports of bear sightings were received in Hokkaido, the “bear country”. “The number of sightings in Shari Town is the highest ever this year,” said a person in charge of the Shiretoko Foundation, which is contracted by Shari Town, which has the highest number of brown bear sightings, and the Ministry of the Environment, to carry out brown bear countermeasures, including infestation surveys. Talk about how unusual it is.

“We expected that there would be an increase in bear sightings in Shiretoko.We knew from last year’s survey of brown bear food resources that the food resources, which are important for brown bears, would be less fruitful. One of the reasons for the increase in sightings is that brown bears are becoming more active in search of food.”

However, according to Yoneda, this is not the only reason for the increase in damage from bears.

“As new residential areas are being constructed all over the country, the number of “urban bears” called “urban bears” that grow in forests near urban areas is increasing.“Urban bears” grow near residential areas. Because of this, they are accustomed to people and do not get excited about people unnecessarily.Furthermore, there are bears called “21st century bears” and “new generation bears” who move from one habitat to another without settling permanently. , they have expanded their habitat by moving into depopulated housing developments and fruit areas.

Recently, the number of bears has been increasing, and especially from summer to fall, we see cases in which bears have been taken away from other bears in the mountains and come into town, where they have plenty of food. In addition, bears that have settled in mountainous areas are currently forced to come down to cities due to severe food shortages.

These bears are dangerous because they have the habit of becoming excited when they go out into the city. Nowadays, the power of hunting associations is weakening nationwide due to a lack of manpower and an aging population, making it difficult to exterminate bears that have come into the city or return them to the mountains.

The bear situation cannot be cleared up with just a simple cleanliness. The next one that appears may be your city…

(Weekly FLASH November 28, December 5, 2023 combined issue)