SAPPORO -- The relationship between brown bears and humans in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido is becoming increasingly strained.
According to tallies by the Hokkaido Prefectural Police, this year's brown bear sightings had hit 2,055 as of the end of October -- the highest in the past five years. The police also noted that the number of people injured or killed in brown bear encounters since records began in 1962 was at its worst, with three dead, six seriously injured, and two with minor injuries.
Experts say that brown bear incursions into urban areas may become more common, and warn that the public should keep their distance from the animals.
According to the prefectural police's community planning division, brown bear sighting reports had risen by 320 as of the end of October compared to the same period in 2020, and doubled the same figure for 2016. It is believed that the same bears may have been seen repeatedly, and that dogs have been mistaken for brown bears in some cases, but it still appears that the distance between bears and people has shrunk.
The brown bears seen in Sapporo are thought to be coming into the more populated parts of the city from the forests in the city's southwest, and they are spotted in the area every year. However, in June this year, a brown bear appeared in a residential area of the city's Higashi -- literally meaning "east" -- Ward, inflicting minor to serious injuries on four people. In addition, in 2019, brown bears were seen for the first time in 78 years in Nopporo Shinrin Kouen Prefectural Natural Park, which straddles the cities of Sapporo and Ebetsu.
Tsutomu Mano (center), attends a forum of Higuma no kai (Hokkaido Brown Bear Association) in Sapporo's Kita Ward on Nov. 6, 2021. (Mainichi/Takumi Taniguchi)
"We will stay on guard to prevent any damage to people. We would like the public to recognize that brown bears are nearby, and report sightings to us," a prefectural police official said.
"There are brown bear sightings every year near Sapporo, but they have moved closer to people faster than administrative bodies and others have been preparing for it," a representative of the civic organization Higuma no kai -- or Hokkaido Brown Bear Association -- comprising researchers and others seeking harmonious coexistence between brown bears and people, said at a Nov. 6 forum in Sapporo. In recent days, brown bears have been seen not only in Sapporo, but in the city centers of Asahikawa and Obihiro.
In Hokkaido's past, there were springtime hunts of brown bears still in hibernation or just waking up to curb their numbers. The policy was abolished in 1990, and there are estimates that the prefecture's brown bear population has doubles since. Distribution of the bear population has widened once again, and the front lines seem to have come closer to the human sphere. Some believe that brown bears are seen more often in residential areas because more of them are now accustomed to people and human habitats.
Meanwhile, hunters have become older, and it is unclear how many of them can be expected to be able to respond to emergencies in the future. This is precisely why the Hokkaido Brown Bear Association advocates the importance of enhancing measures before the aging of hunters becomes a major problem.
One way to do so is to separate the habitats of people and brown bears. That would entail enclosing fields used for growing crops with electric fences so that bears looking for food will not come near human habitats, or maintaining distance between people and bears by cutting thickets and the grass of windbreak forests, through which the bears enter city centers and residential areas.
The association also argues that the prefecture's 14 development and promotion bureaus should have professional staff that deal with brown bears. Tsutomu Mano, its vice chairman, said, "If we neglect the current situation, we'll soon be in serious trouble. We must confront this phenomenon seriously."
(Japanese original by Takumi Taniguchi, Hokkaido News Department)
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