81 Cases of Emergency Bear Shooting Reported in 1st Year

Tokyo, Sept. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japan's emergency bear shooting system was used in a total of 81 cases in 14 of the country's 47 prefectures in the first year after its introduction in September 2025, according to the Environment Ministry.

It was used mainly in the Tohoku northeastern and Hokuriku central regions. The emergency culling system allows shooting of bears or wild boars in residential or other inhabited areas based on decisions by municipal governments.

Challenges still remain. It took time to secure safety in some cases while some local governments lack know-how.

Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, part of Tohoku, used the emergency culling system for a bear last October, becoming the first municipality to do so.

Before the introduction of the system, bear or wild boar shooting at night or in densely populated residential areas had been prohibited in principle. "If conditions are met, we can now capture bears quickly" thanks to the system, an official of a local government said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]