More than two days have passed since a bear entered the warehouse of a shipping company on the outskirts of Akita City on the 6th. The bear has not been caught in a trap set up in a warehouse and cannot be captured, and a 24-hour vigil continues.
Under these circumstances, with the damage caused by bears at an all-time high, local governments in Hokkaido and Tohoku have asked the national government to add bears to the list of "designated birds and animals under management," along with sika deer and wild boars, and the national government will cover the costs of capturing and researching them. I requested that they be included in the support. In response to the request, a study committee of the Ministry of the Environment decided on the 8th to present a countermeasure policy regarding whether to add it to the list of ``designated managed birds and beasts.''
table of contents
I spent two whole days in the warehouse...
◇Akita bears have been sighted even after December, when they are said to be hibernating.
◇People attacked by bears: “90% of seriously injured people have facial injuries”
◇Bear damage exceeds 200 for the first time in the country, worst ever
Ministry of the Environment study committee to present countermeasures policy
Open table of contents
table of contents
table of contents
I spent two whole days in the warehouse...
◇Akita bears have been sighted even after December, when they are said to be hibernating.
◇People attacked by bears: “90% of seriously injured people have facial injuries”
◇Bear damage exceeds 200 for the first time in the country, worst ever
Ministry of the Environment study committee to present countermeasures policy
I spent two whole days in the warehouse...
At around 11:30 a.m. on the 6th, a bear about 1 meter long was found inside a shipping company's warehouse in Goshono, Akita City, and Akita City and other authorities blocked the entrance and exit of the warehouse with piles of materials for transportation, and the inside of the warehouse. I set up a box trap and a camera.
According to the city, when a staff member went into the warehouse to change camera batteries around 8:30 a.m. on the 8th, the bear was not in the trap and they heard a noise that they thought was a bear.
The police have so far dispatched approximately 50 police officers to guard the surrounding area 24 hours a day, and Akita City also continues to monitor the area through cameras.
The site is about 7.5 kilometers southeast of JR Akita Station, in an area lined with distribution centers and warehouses, and a residential area nearby.
According to the two shipping companies that use this warehouse, the bears have entered a part of the warehouse, and so far there have been no delays in deliveries.
◇Akita bears have been sighted even after December, when they are said to be hibernating.
Even after December, when bears are generally supposed to hibernate, bear sightings continue to occur in Akita Prefecture, with 16 sightings reported as of the 7th this year.
[Misato Town]
On January 17th, town officials confirmed that a bear, approximately 50 centimeters long, had climbed a tree on the grounds of Chibata Elementary School. Since the bear was discovered at the same time as the school was leaving school, the school had to respond by asking parents of children who were walking home to come pick them up, but no one was injured. The bear remained in the tree for about four hours before leaving the area.
Some parents still pick up and drop off their children at school by car, and one mother said, ``It takes about 30 minutes to walk from school to home, and there are bears at school, so it's scary, so it's difficult every day, but now. We continue to provide transportation by car."
[Odate City]
Last December, a bear was photographed climbing a tree and eating persimmons during a snowstorm in Odate City. On December 17th last year, an NHK director happened to spot a bear climbing a persimmon tree during a snowstorm near a private house in Odate City, and photographed it from inside his car. According to the director who took the picture, the bear was about 50 centimeters long and had climbed a persimmon tree behind a house and was eating persimmons for at least 5 minutes before climbing down from the tree and leaving the area.
◇People attacked by bears: “90% of seriously injured people have facial injuries”
As of the end of January, 70 people had been injured in bear attacks in Akita Prefecture this fiscal year, making it the worst on record and more than triple the previous year.
According to Akita University Hospital in Akita City, which treated 20 of the seriously injured people, 18 of them suffered injuries to their faces, accounting for 90% of the injuries.
The next most
common injuries were to the face and head, with
14 cases involving the upper extremities such as arms and shoulders,
11 cases
involving the head, and 8 cases involving the lower extremities such as the knees and thighs.
A closer look at the 18 people who suffered facial injuries revealed
that 3 lost sight in one eye
and 9 were diagnosed with fractures.
In addition, four people developed infections with bacteria remaining in their wounds, and some were hospitalized for nearly two months before fully recovering.
In addition, some people developed acute stress disorder, suffering from ``flashbacks'' that recalled memories of the attack, and some needed psychological care.
Dr. Hideomi Tsuchida, who conducted the treatment, said, ``
Damage caused by bears affects the whole body and requires treatment in multiple clinical departments, but we found from patient trends that the face is particularly prone to being targeted, resulting in serious injuries. If you encounter a bear, be sure to protect your face and head, as it may be difficult to return to your normal life."
◇Bear damage exceeds 200 for the first time in the country, worst ever
Bear damage is increasing nationwide. According to national statistics, the number of people affected by bears this year reached 218 as of the end of January, making it the worst case ever and exceeding 200 people for the first time since statistics began being collected.
By prefecture, there were
2 deaths each in Hokkaido and Iwate, and
1 each in Toyama and Nagano, for a total of 6 people. Additionally,
70 people
were injured in Akita
, 47 in Iwate
, 15 in Fukushima,
and 11 in Aomori and Nagano, with
70% of the damage occurring in the Tohoku region.
Damage has continued even after December, when bears are supposed to hibernate,
with a total of six people injured: three in Ishikawa, two in Iwate, and one in Fukushima.
Professor Shinsuke Koike, Graduate School of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Professor Shinsuke Koike of the Graduate School of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, who is an expert on bear ecology, commented on the frequent sightings of bears in Akita Prefecture at this time of year, saying, ``Bears basically hibernate, but people are making noise around the burrows where they hibernate.'' If the environment is bad, for example, they may change locations mid-way, so there is a possibility that they were spotted along the way."
In addition, in Akita Prefecture, many relatively small bears that appear to be cubs have been sighted, and ``cubs are born during hibernation, and then spend about a year and a half with their mother before being reunited with their mother.'' They hibernate, but if the mother bears die or become separated, it is possible that the cubs wander around without knowing how to hibernate. "If you were eating persimmons in the village last fall, you may want to go out to the village at this time and look for persimmons lying under the snow."If you see a bear, move slowly away from it so as not to provoke it. They said they wanted people to take shelter and evacuate inside a building or car.
Ministry of the Environment study committee to present countermeasures policy
With damage caused by bears at an all-time high, local governments in Hokkaido and Tohoku requested the national government in November last year to add bears to the list of "designated birds and animals under management," along with sika deer and wild boars, and to cover the costs of capturing and researching them. requested that it be included in support.
In response to these requests, the Ministry of the Environment set up a committee of experts last December, and on the 8th, the committee will present countermeasures regarding whether or not to add the species to the list of designated birds and animals under management.