Bear Attacks in Tokyo: Anti-Bear Spraying and New Deterrent Methods

That Tokyo suburb story it’s getting serious. Five deaths and twenty injuries from bear attacks since April through May. That kind of pressure leads somewhere.
So now they’re talking about spraying things. Installing seven hundred anti-bear sprays in schools and community spots. A big move, trying to stop it before anything happens.
These aren't just simple sprays. They use artificial intelligence for detection. Deterrent alarms with flash devices built into them.
Kyodo News got involved here. Yoshikazu Sato, a biologist from Hokkaido, supervised this stuff. He said the spray itself hits about ten meters, lasting maybe ten seconds. It uses over two percent capsaicin. That’s irritating to bears eyes, nose, lungs. The price tag? Nine thousand nine hundred yen for the whole kit, including the holster.
The environment ministry is watching this too. They noted that Japan had thirteen bear deaths last fiscal year. But between April and May this year alone, five more fatalities happened. It’s a spike. Everywhere you look in urban areas lately.
Local government spokesman Ryosuke Sato quoted AFP on what they plan to do next. They're spending fifteen million yen that’s ninety-three thousand dollars on the sprays. Also movable electric fences and things that make really high-pitched sounds.
But it’s not just spraying. They are trying to get people involved. Authorities want to draft an action plan. Bring in hunters, take other steps if bears show up near neighborhoods. Sato emphasized this: working with police and hunters to write down how we deal with them when they hit the streets.
Earlier this month, things had already gone sideways elsewhere. Ninety-four schools in Utsunomiya, way north of Tokyo, shut down for three days because a bear was reported roaming around. And Fukushima... there were attacks too. Four people injured across two factories and a residential area. It’s spreading.
The sheer number of sightings has jumped up too. Last year to March? Over fifty thousand reports nationwide. That's more than double what they saw two years ago, official data says.
And then you have this weird side effect happening commercially. A company making those ferocious-looking robot wolves is getting huge orders. They’re selling animatronic scarecrows with flashing red eyes that howl and growl menacingly to chase bears away. Ohta Seiki in Hokkaido handles it. They say they got about fifty of these orders this year already. Way more than usual for an entire year.
The president, Yuji Ohta, told AFP that they make them by hand. It just isn't fast enough now. They are asking customers to wait two or three months for delivery. Just waiting.
Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board
Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.
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