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Agence France-Presse

As a sensor sounded, scientist Akiko Takii hurried to a bear trap deep in the forests of Nagano in Japan, where rising nationwide attacks have brought fear and resulted in the culling of thousands of the animals.
“It’s a small bear, I think, about a year and a half old,” Takii said as she peered at the 15kg (33lbs) Asiatic black bear thrashing in the cage. “It must have just parted from mum.”
Its mother was not around, and Takii took blood and fur samples after her co-researcher tranquillised the young female. The animal was too small to be tagged with a GPS tracker, so she was released.
The process of trapping, tagging and releasing the animals is part of a pioneering management plan launched in 1995, as authorities realised the bear population was shrinking in the mountainous region in the centre of Japan’s Honshu island.
And it is becoming part of a model of coexistence in the region that some experts believe is an alternative to the dominant practice of culling the animals in an effort to prevent attacks.

“By not killing too many of them, more bears survive to live out their expected lifespan. In that sense, a healthy bear population is being formed,” Takii said of the process, which is paired with other methods intended to keep bears away from humans and monitor their movement.
Another group in the area used specially trained Karelian Bear Dogs to scare bears away, and more than 3,000km (2,000 miles) of fencing was installed near farms, towns and along rivers to prevent encounters. Bears who slip through are tranquillised, tagged and set free far away.
The programme has been credited with prompting both a recovery in bear numbers – although the animals are hard to count – and fewer encounters with humans.
There is little sympathy across much of Japan for healthy bear populations. Bears have killed six people nationwide since April 1, after a record 13 fatal attacks last financial year, according to the environment ministry.
Sightings last year doubled the previous record and bears are increasingly entering the outskirts of towns and cities. The causes are complex and, including variations in the availability of food like acorns, are potentially linked to climate change.
Forgotten fruit
The emptying out of rural areas due to depopulation and urbanisation is also leaving forests, farmland and buffer zones less managed, according to Shuichi Kitoh, a Tokyo University professor emeritus of environmental ethics.
“Due to depopulation, people are no longer involved in nature and the forest like they were before,” Kitoh said.
Fruit like persimmons growing on trees that are no longer harvested are an attractive treat for bears, encouraging them to venture farther from their natural habitats and hunting grounds.
“It’s not that bears in general are getting [more] ferocious,” Kitoh said. “We have to identify problematic individuals.”
The central government’s response has focused largely on culling bears, expanding the process beyond animals in towns to those that wander into buffer zones on the outskirts.
Even before the cull guidance was expanded in April, large numbers of bears were being killed – a record 14,000 last financial year, or almost 40 a day.

Takii argued Nagano’s coexistence programme offered a different path.
While direct comparisons are difficult, some figures appear to show it has helped limit dangerous encounters. Annual sightings have remained broadly stable at around 1,400 in recent years, while some northern prefectures have recorded sharp increases.
Last year, Nagano recorded 11 bear-related incidents, including one death, compared with 59 encounters and four deaths in Akita further north and five fatalities in Iwate.
Some Nagano residents also feel reassured, including at a school where Takii was teaching children about bears.
“Takii understands wild bear behaviour in this area well, and she assures us they are not aggressive,” principal Hiroshi Aruga said. “I am convinced it’s safe to live with them as long as humans don’t offend them.”
But for now, that view remains something of a minority. A cap on the number of bears that can be culled annually in Nagano has been doubled to 675, with 227 killed between April and June this year.
Takii’s group, the Shinshu Asian Black Bear Research Association, now only does catch-and-release work for scientific study. Its bear dog programme has been halted.
Still, Takii’s outreach is continuing, and at the school she allowed children to handle bear pelts and skulls, while teaching the importance of keeping food away from the animals and maintaining a distance.
“Bears seem to be some terrifying creatures if we don’t know them well,” said one parent, Mitsuko Sawanishi, after a lesson. “But after the bear class, I think it’s important to keep a good distance from them and live together.”


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Japan bear project aims to show coexistence, not culling, can prevent attacks

Wild bear expert Akiko Takii collects blood and fur samples from a tranquilised female black bear on July 14. Photo:  AFP

Akiko Takii works on a bear trap in a forest in Ina, Nagano prefecture, on July 6. Photo: AFP

A climber passes by a sign showing bear alert level on Mount Rausu in Hokkaido on July 5. Photo: Kyodo

Akiko Takii shows a can of bear spray that she carries for safety while entering forests in Ina, Nagano prefecture, on July 6. Photo: AFP

Students attend a workshop by wild bear expert Akiko Takii in Ina city, Nagano prefecture, on July 6. Photo: AFP

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A bear seen on a riverbank in the city centre of Morioka in Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, last October. Photo: Kyodo 

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A local hunter touches a bear dummy during an emergency response drill for bear and other wildlife intrusions in Isehara, Kanagawa prefecture in July. Photo: AFP

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East Asia

The programme has been credited with prompting both a recovery in bear numbers and fewer encounters with humans in Nagano


The programme has been credited with prompting both a recovery in bear numbers and fewer encounters with humans in Nagano.


Animals

Environment

Conservation

Japan bear project aims to show coexistence, not culling, can prevent attacks

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The programme has been credited with prompting both a recovery in bear numbers and fewer encounters with humans in Nagano

The programme has been credited with prompting both a recovery in bear numbers and fewer encounters with humans in Nagano