In Japan, a bear has been raiding the kitchens of local residents
In the Japanese town of Shizukuishi, authorities have been searching for two weeks for an Asian black bear that has been regularly breaking into homes in search of food. The animal opens refrigerators, scatters food, and seems to have a particular fondness for sweets.
Law enforcement officials suspect that this particular bear may be responsible for at least 14 break-ins into homes and outbuildings. Authorities are setting traps and stepping up patrols to capture the animal.
One of the most recent incidents occurred on the evening of July 13. Mitsuo Matsubara, 87, heard a noise in the kitchen and decided to check what was going on. Inside, he saw a large Asian black bear. The refrigerator was open, and food was scattered across the floor. His wife immediately called the police.
Over the past two weeks, similar incidents have been reported in at least five districts of the town of Shizukuishi. Given the animal’s consistent behavior, experts suspect that all the attacks may have been carried out by the same individual. “It’s unusual for a bear to return to the same spot multiple times. It’s quite possible that this is the same animal, so we want to capture it as soon as possible,” said Shiko Chida, a bear expert with the Iwate Prefecture Nature Conservation Division.
The bear hasn’t limited itself to houses. Over the past two weeks, cameras have captured it four times entering farm buildings and eating cattle feed. On one occasion, the animal even tried to open the sliding door of a farmhouse. However, the owner spotted it, shone a flashlight at it, and began shouting loudly—after which the bear fled.
After that incident, the farmer began sprinkling a homemade mixture containing Japanese mustard near the entrances. He hopes the pungent smell will help scare off the uninvited guest. However, the bear seems to be most interested in sweet foods. It returned to one of the houses five times. There, the animal found cookies, sugar, and karinto—traditional Japanese sweets made of fried dough coated in sugar.
Last week, another encounter with the bear could have ended dangerously. A man returned home from the store and saw a bear near the room where his elderly father was sleeping. After a loud knock on the door, the bear ran out into the yard but almost immediately tried to come back in.
According to the homeowner, he held the sliding door shut for about 30 seconds while the bear, standing on its hind legs, tried to get inside. The man said the animal was about 1.65 meters tall. The following evening, another local resident found a bear in her own kitchen. The animal was looking for food. And on Sunday, the bear broke into a store selling traditional Japanese sweets and took some donuts from the refrigerator.
To capture the bear, local authorities set up special trap cages, installed electric fences near the homes the animal visited most frequently, and increased the number of patrols. Residents are urged to be cautious and not to attempt to approach the animal on their own.
In recent years, the number of bear attacks on people in Japan has increased significantly, including fatal incidents. Experts attribute this to several factors. Among them are the shrinking population in rural areas and the gradual blurring of the boundary between human and wildlife habitats. As a result, bears are increasingly venturing into populated areas and losing their fear of humans.
In the case of the bear in Shizukuishi, local residents hope the animal will be found quickly before another “foray for sweets” ends in a dangerous encounter. This is reported by The Guardian.
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