Japan Deploys Military to Quell Bear Attacks

This month Japan deployed troops to fend off bear attacks in the northern prefecture of Akita. Bears have gone a bit nuts here this year, killing at least a dozen people since April and injuring more than 100.

To combat the onslaught, the Defense Ministry and Akita prefecture are now deploying soldiers in the area, though they are not authorized to shoot anything. Instead, the soldiers will set box traps with food, transport local hunters and sharpshooters – who are authorized to use lethal force – and help dispose of dead bears.

“Every day, bears intrude into residential areas in the region and their impact is expanding,” Fumitoshi Sato, deputy chief cabinet secretary, said at a press conference. “Responses to the bear problem are an urgent matter.”

The military operation launched in Akita in a forested area outside Kazuno city. More than 50 people have been attacked in the prefecture this year. Soldiers carrying bear spray and net launchers have set up bear traps in the area. Drones are monitoring the region from above.

Civilians are on high alert as well. When outside, even in residential areas, people are wearing bells to make bear-repellent noise and carrying cans of bear spray. Children are warned to stay indoors and local parks are closed. The vigilance should wind down as bears hibernate for the winter.

There are two bear species found in Japan, the Japanese black bear and the Hokkaido brown. The brown bear is the largest land animal in the country, weighing over 850 pounds while the black species is usually less than half that. Together there are an estimated 54,000 bears throughout Japan.