Ina (Japan) (AFP) – When a sensor is triggered in the forest in the Nagano department, Akiko Takii rushes towards a bear trap, as part of a program presented as an alternative to the mass slaughter practiced elsewhere in Japan, the scene of an increase in deadly attacks.

Published on: 01/09/2026 - 09:11

“She probably just left her mother,” she said after looking at the 15kg Asian black bear, whose age she estimates at a year and a half.

After ensuring that the mother is not nearby and once the cub is anesthetized, she takes blood and hair samples. Too small to be equipped with a GPS tag, the animal is released.

The program was launched in 1995, when authorities noticed that the bear population was declining in this mountainous region in central Honshu, the main Japanese island.

For Ms. Takii, this approach based on coexistence offers an alternative to the mass slaughter practiced elsewhere in Japan.

“By not killing too many, more bears survive to their normal life expectancy. This creates a healthy bear population,” she explains.

The program also includes other measures intended to limit contact with humans. More than 3,000 kilometers of fencing have been installed near farms, towns and along rivers.

Reports doubled last year

In the region, specially trained dogs have also been used to repel bears. Animals that approach populated areas can be anesthetized, marked and then released away from homes.

According to those responsible for the project, this strategy contributed both to the reconstitution of bear numbers, which are difficult to precisely assess, and to a reduction in encounters with humans.

Elsewhere in Japan, however, this vision remains in the minority. According to the Environment Ministry, bears have killed six people in the country since April 1, following a record 13 fatal attacks the previous year.

Reports doubled last year compared to the previous record and the animals are increasingly seen on the outskirts of cities.

The causes are complex: variations in the availability of food, such as acorns, could be linked to climate change. The rural exodus also plays an important role.

“Due to depopulation (of the countryside), residents are no longer involved in nature and the forest as before,” underlines Shuichi Kitoh, professor emeritus of environmental ethics at the University of Tokyo.

Fruits like persimmons, growing on abandoned trees, encourage bears to move away from their natural habitats and hunting grounds.

“No more fierce”

For Mr. Kitoh, "it's not that bears in general are becoming more ferocious." According to him, we must instead identify the most problematic individuals.

Faced with the increase in incidents, the government has mainly favored slaughter. The instructions were extended this year to bears present in buffer zones around towns. A record 14,000 bears were killed last fiscal year.

Ms. Takii nevertheless believes that the experience of Nagano shows that another path is possible. The annual number of reports has remained relatively stable at around 1,400 in recent years.

Last year, the department recorded 11 bear-related incidents, including one death, compared to 59 encounters and four deaths in Akita and five deaths in Iwate, further north.

Despite the doubling of the annual slaughter ceiling in Nagano, Akiko Takii continues its awareness-raising activities in schools. There she teaches children to keep their distance from bears and not to leave food within their reach.

The scientist “understands the behavior of wild bears in this region well and assures us that they are not aggressive,” says Hiroshi Aruga, director of a school.

“Bears seem like terrifying creatures when you don’t know them well,” summarizes Mitsuko Sawanishi, a student’s mother.

“But after this lesson on bears, I think it is important to maintain a good distance from them and live together.”

© 2026 AFP

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