{"id":2185920,"date":"2025-02-25T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2185920"},"modified":"2025-02-23T12:51:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T11:51:51","slug":"bear-attack-crisis-hits-japan-as-government-brings-in-emergency-measures-allowing-people-to-shoot-them-after-surge-in-dangerous-encounters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/bear-attack-crisis-hits-japan-as-government-brings-in-emergency-measures-allowing-people-to-shoot-them-after-surge-in-dangerous-encounters\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear attack crisis hits Japan as government brings in emergency measures allowing people to shoot them after surge in dangerous encounters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Japanese government will now allow hunters to shoot bears in populated areas after dangerous human encounters with the wild animals hit record levels.<\/p>\n

The revised wildlife protection and management law, which was approved by the cabinet Friday, allows ’emergency shootings’ following complaints that hunters were hampered by red tape.<\/p>\n

The environment ministry hopes to present the bill to parliament in the coming months and get it enacted before autumn, when bear sightings typically surge.<\/p>\n

Currently, shooting animals such as bears or wild boar in residential areas is forbidden.<\/p>\n

It comes as the country battles a bear attack crisis that saw 219 people attacked by bears in 12 months to April 2024, with six human fatalities – the highest since statistics began nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n

Climate change affecting bear food sources and hibernation times, along with depopulation caused by an ageing society, are causing the animals to venture into towns more frequently.<\/p>\n

More than 9,000 bears were killed in Japan in the 12 months leading to April 2024.<\/p>\n