Newspapers and television now report daily on bear attacks. Bears are appearing in urban areas, and many people are being injured in encounters. Encounters between humans and bears are occurring on an unprecedented scale. As of November 17, 196 people nationwide have been injured by bears, with 13 deaths. This number of victims is trending at a record high. Bear sightings are becoming commonplace in the Tohoku region, and human injuries are occurring at a record high. Even in large cities like Sapporo and Sendai, bear sightings are becoming more frequent. According to Akita Prefecture, the bear population in the prefecture is estimated at 4,400 based on information from cameras installed in the mountains. Analysis of data from the Ministry of the Environment indicates that the bear population doubled between 1978 and 2018. In Akita Prefecture, the bear population may have increased from 2,200 to 4,400 over the past 40 years.
Many experts attribute the increased number of bear sightings to the decline of satoyama (countryside forests). Wildlife management requires a balanced approach: population management, habitat management, and pest control. To prevent damage, it is important to study the ecology of animals and the factors that lead to their invasion, as well as to understand the mechanisms behind the damage they cause. When natural areas such as mountains and forests are devastated, animals lose food. Hungry animals will then target food in rural areas. When rural areas where humans live become impoverished, it becomes impossible to prevent animal invasions. Common countermeasures include creating an environment that animals dislike, establishing anti-invasion measures to protect farmland, and appropriately capturing animals with an emphasis on capture pressure. Bears are timid, so measures have been taken to intimidate them and send them back to the mountains. However, these timid bears are becoming predators and attacking people.
Kawasaki Town in Miyagi Prefecture is a thriving livestock farming region, earning it the nickname “beef tongue home.” Dent corn fields, which are used as cattle feed, were being destroyed by Asiatic black bears, causing problems. As a solution, the members of the “Asian Black Bear Habitat Protection Society” created fields that were OK for bears to eat. They reasoned that bears, having had their fill on the mountainside, would not risk coming to the fields in the countryside. The “Bear-friendly fields” initiative has been going on for 10 years now. It is true that damage to crops has decreased, and the number of bears being exterminated seems to be decreasing as well. In the long term, if the forests where animals live are filled with deciduous broadleaf trees, they may no longer risk coming to the satoyama. Restoring forests seems to be one way to solve wildlife problems.
