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Bear Shot Dead After Rampage Through Sapporo In Japan

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Animal ‘exterminated’ after it bounded through the city, injuring four people

Hunters have shot and killed a brown bear in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo after it rampaged through the city, injuring four people, including a soldier.

Authorities in Sapporo tweeted on Friday that the bear had been “exterminated”, with a local television station saying hunters had shot the bear.

Earlier, dramatic news footage showed the bear bounding along a residential street, crossing a busy road and clawing at the gates of a military barracks, causing alarmed troops to scatter.

One soldier was injured in the bear’s rampage through the city, which will host the Olympic marathon and race-walking events in August.

Another victim was mauled by the bear after it attacked him from behind, TV footage showed. The person was taken away on a stretcher.

The rampage prompted local school closures and the cancellation of several flights at a small regional airport, NHK reported.

Earlier, government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato told people in the Hokkaido region to be on alert.

“A total of four people, including one self-defence forces member, have been attacked and injured by the brown bear. We express our sincere sympathy to them,” he said.

“Officials from Sapporo city, the Hokkaido police, a local hunting association and other concerned agencies have arrived at the scene. They are coordinating efforts to capture the brown bear, or if deemed necessary, exterminate it.”

One of the victims was in their 40s, one in their 70s and another in their 80s, according to NHK, which did not give details of the fourth.

Asian black bears are native to large parts of Japan, including the country’s main island, while brown bears roam Hokkaido farther north.

The Japan Bear and Forest Society has warned that forest-dwelling bears are being spotted in greater numbers in areas inhabited by humans as they search for food.
 


 

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