The Japanese military has been dispatched to halt a major bear incursion. More than 100 people have been injured, and 11 killed, by bears in Japan this year, a record; the defense minister said that bears “have been appearing in supermarkets” and “people are living in great fear.” The country’s bear population is increasing, perhaps because the human population is declining and abandoning rural settlements.
A poor crop of nuts and acorns this year may have also driven them to look for food in residential areas, while warming temperatures are believed to have reduced hibernation periods. Tokyo has tried to train more hunters to improve culling, but thanks to aging, “their ranks have thinned,” The New York Times reported.