Overview
- Utsunomiya, which suspended all 94 primary and middle schools on Monday, took the step after its first recorded bear sighting and the animal remained at large with the last confirmed sighting about 0.5 kilometres from a middle school.
- The closure follows a separate incident last week in Fukushima in which a black bear injured several people and was filmed chasing a factory worker, highlighting a recent rise in attacks in populated areas.
- Officials and experts say the spike in sightings and attacks reflects ecological and demographic shifts, including reduced acorn and beechnut crops from climate change, fewer hunters, and abandoned farmland near towns.
- Tokyo has launched a national task force this year and outlined a multi-year management plan that includes expanded capture and control measures to try to reduce casualties and keep bears away from communities.
- Asiatic black bears are listed as vulnerable globally, but their numbers in Japan have been rising since 2012, a trend that is increasing pressure on local services, prompting school closures and urgent searches in cities such as Utsunomiya.