Japanese Bears are In the News
One of the biggest problems facing wildlife is that of the loss of habitat. And that can bring them into conflict with people, as they tend to wonder into town in search of food.
Since this is happening around the world, it is good to see countries getting together to see how the problem might be tackled.
Back in October, for instance, there was a bear workshop with 300 people from 20 countries and regions who got together to discuss human-bear conflict. It was held in the beautiful state of Montana, USA, known as Bear Country.
Japan has been in the news recently due to a rapidly growing problem with bear attacks. The density of bears is very high in Japan, and bear-human conflicts are on the rise, with bears having a killer year. Recent numbers in the Japan Times suggest that that North America has one black bear for every 26 square kilometers, and Japan has one per 7 square kilometres. There are Asian black bears in the regions of Tohoku, Chubu and Chogoku, and brown bears in Hokkaido.
Nearly 70% of Japan is covered in forests, and people live on the flatlands adjacent to the mountains. So bear habitat and human settlements practically overlap – it’s easy for bears to drift into residential areas very quickly. And according to an article in the Japan Times, only 5% of officials “at the prefectural level” have any specialized knowledge of wildlife.
Since April this year, 12 or 13 people have been killed by bears and 200 injured. The bears are making their way into schools, shopping malls – one even found the way to the furniture section of a department store. Another killed a tourist who was waiting at a bus stop.
Bears are moving into urban and suburban areas. In addition, as the human population in many villages moves away or passes on, bears are discovering food. And where a bear finds food, they are very likely to come back for more; they aren’t stupid. Farms that have been abandoned, orchards which are overgrown and trees heavy with fruit make for easy pickings for a hungry bear. In the old days, hunters culled the bears, but many of these are much older now and there are far fewer hunters.
Given the high number of bear attacks this year – 88 in October resulting in 7 deaths – the Japanese government has reacted swiftly. On October 30, the environment ministry said that it would set aside funds to hire licensed hunters and other personnel to tackle bears that have been wandering into residential areas and attacking people.
Bears eat lots of acorns and beechnuts in autumn, so that they can build up fat reserves before hibernating in the winter. Deforestation, climate change and the weather mean poor harvests, so bears are going into towns and human settlements to find food. Warmer temperatures have meant reduced food supply for the bears.
What steps are being taken to tackle the bear problem?
The efforts being taken to tackle the bears bring home the scale of the problem in terms of the immediate response people and authorities are taking:
Automatic doors to shops etc are being turned onto manual, as automatic doors open for bears
People are taking their own safety measures and staying indoors with footfall in one area being reported to be down to levels seen in the pandemic times
The US and UK have issued travel advisories, with advice on staying safe for tourists.
People are being asked not to leave any rubbish or food out, or throw food to bears from the car as they pass them. In some cases, children are being told not to have food in their backpacks as they go to school.
Some people are carrying bells to frighten the bears away,
The Japanese government issued advice in November 2025, which according to an article in Mainichi.jp, suggested that children carry plastic water bottles, claiming that the bears hate the sound of these bottles crumpling. It also suggested changing routes to schools, and establishing communication systems, with region-specific protocols for bear incidents in schools.
A report from NHK-World Japan (also mentioned below) says that some areas are employing private security companies to patrol around schools by car to watch out for bears. And using fireworks and firecrackers in bush areas where the animals may be lurking
Who is helping the bears or working on solutions to tackle the problem?
As this news report shows from NHK World - Japan (21 November 2025), one company is working on drones to identify bears coming closer to people. The idea is that the drones will send warnings to people on the ground that bears are close, and the hope is that sound can be used to drive the bears away. Some locals hope to get licences to operate these drones by the end of next year.
The Hokkaido Bear Research Society has also reportedly opposed the killing of bears except for “legitimate” hunting.
Kumamori - Japan Bear & Forest Society is a conservation group with 21,000 members. It has urged the government to use non-lethal methods and restore habitats so that bears can return to the mountains.
Japan Bear Network aims to build a better relationship between people and bears, taking action to promote the co-existence of bear and people in Japan. It's an alliance, working to foster communication amongst those involved in thinking about and taking action to promote the co-existence of bears and people in Japan. It enables the exchange of regional information about bears and areas where there are problems, appealing to the public where needbe. The hope is that the Network will be able to act as a representative of Japan on international bear conservation issues.
The Japan Network made recommendations to prevent bear damage on 6th November, as bears appeared in urban centres, mostly in Hokkaido and the Tuhoku region. They hadn't been seen there before.
They say that individual measures alone aren't enough to tackle the damage caused by bears., and that, amongst other things, there's a need to:
eliminate problematic individuals
prevent damage
manage human behaviour
A variety of reforms and responses are needed medium to long term, such as establishing and maintaining habitat separation between humans and bears, and capturing bears wandering into human areas. It's also important to manage the bear population, with scientific monitoring, and to assess habitats regularly. Results would need to be monitored and measures adjusted accordingly.
They are also suggesting strong collaboration between everyone involved, including NPOs, research institutes, universities and agencies, as well as private companies. And it's important to have a system by which the latest scientific knowledge and technological advances can be shared.
Education matters: it's important to promote public awareness. And of course, the resources need to be put in place to make this happen.
If the bears go into hibernation (and there is a bit of a doubt about that this year), my hope is that it will give the authorities and conservation groups time to work on solutions to the problems.
Electric fencing, finding out ways to deal with trees laden with fruit and orchards and farms that have been abandoned, working on ways to deter the bears before they arrive in town, may all play a part in managing the bears. Discovering a system whereby bears are removed far away from human settlements, getting bear experts to come to support, educating the public on bear awareness and being safe around bears may all help. Working out why the problem has occurred in the first place and grown in the scale it has, so that the root cause can be tackled is also surely a first step. Habitat loss and warming temperatures has - like so many places - led to the bears moving to new territory to find the food they need to survive. Polar bears are similarly wandering into town and polar bear proof bins are in place, some places even have a polar bear jail where the health of the animals can be assessed before they are helicoptered elsewhere, far away from human settlements, and education, warning systems and science all play a part in managing the conflict between bears and people.
There also needs to be more investment in encouraging young people into the field of wildlife management, perhaps with opportunities to have secondments in parts of the world where bear specialists are having success in managing bears, and there also needs to be openings for them to get paid work in wildlife management.
When I first started to look at this issue, I hadn't realised I was going to find such a problem. I am not a bear expert or conservationist, just an ordinary soul who wants to make a difference, but it seems to me that here's another area where human activity has impacted on species. We have a moral duty and responsibility to help these bears keep safe. Views in Japan are mixed, I gather; some people want to see the bears culled, others want to see them removed back to the forests. Working together to tackle the problem will be critical.
The image at the top of this blog is from Suzi Kim.
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