Why Japan is looking to ease laws around shooting bears

Japan is grappling with a significant increase in bear attacks, prompting the government to consider easing restrictions on shooting the animals in residential areas. In the year leading up to April, the country recorded a staggering 219 bear attacks, six of which were fatal, according to official data.

This trend has continued into recent months, with bears increasingly encroaching on human settlements, sometimes even viewing humans as prey.

Bear numbers have surged as Japan’s human population ages and shrinks, particularly in rural areas. Consequently, the once-separate habitats of humans and bears are increasingly overlapping, leading to dangerous encounters.

Under current laws, licensed hunters can only fire their guns with police approval, but the government plans to revise these regulations to allow more immediate action if there is a risk of human injury, such as when a bear enters a building.

What are the challenges of hunting bears?

Despite the proposed legal changes, hunters are cautious. “It is scary and quite dangerous to encounter a bear. It is never guaranteed that we can kill a bear by shooting,” Satoshi Saito, executive director of the Hokkaido Hunters’ Association told BBC.

He expressed concerns about the potential consequences of a failed attempt to kill a bear, noting, “If we miss the vital point to stop the bear from moving… it will run away and may attack other people. If it then attacks a person, who will be responsible for that?”

The northern island of Hokkaido exemplifies Japan’s escalating bear problem. The island, though sparsely populated, has seen its bear population more than double since 1990, with around 12,000 brown bears now residing there. These bears are known to be more aggressive than black bears, of which there are approximately 10,000 in Japan.

Crazy dashcam footage of a bear attacking motorists in Hokkaido, Japan: bear attacks have been on the rise in recent years and hit a record high in 2023. pic.twitter.com/6OtxhHK8dv

Local governments have employed various strategies to keep bears at bay, including the use of robot wolves with red eyes and eerie howls, and an artificial intelligence warning system.

In Naie, Hokkaido, authorities have offered hunters 10,300 yen ($64) per day to patrol streets, set traps, and kill bears if necessary. However, there are few takers, as the job is high-risk and the compensation unappealing, particularly for the mostly elderly hunters.

What is the government doing to tackle the problem?

The Japanese Environment Ministry’s expert panel recently supported the use of rifles to hunt bears in residential areas under specific conditions. The ministry plans to revise the wildlife protection and hunting law in the next parliamentary session.

Under the revised law, hunters will be allowed to fire rifles in residential areas if there is a risk of human injury, a bear has entered a building, or one has been captured in a trap. Hunters meeting certain conditions will also be allowed to hunt bears at night.

However, some experts caution against the potential risks. Hiromasa Igota, panel chair and associate professor of hunting management at Rakuno Gakuen University in Hokkaido, spoke to Japan-based newspaper Asahi Shimbun about the need for skill, caution, and responsibility, stating, “The framework in which (hunting bears) is left to the discretion of hunting club members should be drastically changed.”

In this image made from a video, a brown bear runs on a field in Sapporo, northern Japan, June 18, 2021. NTV via AP

Junpei Tanaka from the Picchio Wildlife Research Centre told BBC that while the amendment is necessary as an emergency measure, it is not a long-term solution. He advocates for protecting bear habitats to prevent them from venturing into human areas and called for national policies to improve forest environments with high biodiversity.

He also noted the need for trained government hunters to handle emergencies, a role currently unfilled in Japan.

What is behind the surge in bears?

Experts attribute the surge in bear encounters to several factors, including inconsistent availability of staple foods and rural depopulation. The decline in rural populations, particularly of children, who traditionally deter bears with their activity, has exacerbated the problem.

It is believed bears are expanding the area in which they search for food and therefore are reaching human settlements.

Climate change has also affected the production of acorns and other bear food sources, forcing bears to venture into human settlements in search of sustenance.

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Japan’s Environment Minister Shintaro Ito has pledged to take necessary steps to address the issue, including providing emergency assistance to local communities for surveying and capturing bears near human settlements.

The increasing bear population, estimated at around 44,000 black bears and 12,000 brown bears in Hokkaido, combined with the effects of climate change and rural depopulation, has created a complex and urgent problem for Japan.

With inputs from agencies