Reina Uno: Can Bears and Humans Coexist? — Spreading Knowledge and Verification to Reduce Human Casualties

2019/05/20

My answer to the question "Can bears and humans coexist?" is "yes." Specifically, it means bringing the number of accidents, such as injuries from bear attacks, as close to zero as possible. To achieve this, the key to coexistence lies in thoroughly investigating accidents to identify causes and common patterns, and for humans to possess the necessary knowledge and countermeasures.

Whether animal or human, every action has a "reason," regardless of whether the individual is conscious of it or not. Only by being aware of "why they act this way" can we truly understand the other party. It may seem like a long way around, but I believe that by thoroughly analyzing the situation—much like a police forensic investigation—and responding accordingly, a path to coexistence will become clear.

A few years ago, there was an accident in Akita Prefecture where four people picking wild plants were attacked and killed by a bear. There were testimonies from survivors that the bear, which should normally avoid encounters with humans, actively approached and attacked them. It is thought that the bear learned that "humans can be defeated relatively easily" and "can be eaten," leading to a series of victims.

The first victim likely encountered the bear in a bamboo thicket and was struck down by the startled bear in a chance encounter. Afterward, the bear, drawn back by the scent of blood, may have thought "this might be edible," leading to predation (bears eating human flesh). Then, because people entered the area unaware of the dangerous bear, a succession of victims followed.

In Japan's wildlife management, the biggest challenge regarding bears is how to reduce human casualties. Compared to wild boars, deer, and monkeys, the amount of agricultural damage caused by bears is overwhelmingly small (though they do target fruit and beekeeping). Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between agricultural damage and human casualties. Agricultural damage can be resolved financially to some extent, but human casualties cannot. Reducing human casualties is essential for the coexistence of bears and humans.

So, what kind of bear causes an accident? In what situations do accidents occur? Analyzing the circumstances of accidents in detail and ensuring that humans have the knowledge to avoid creating triggers for attacks—or to stay away from places where they might occur—will lead to a reduction in accidents. Here are some typical examples of accidents.

Every year, reports of bear accidents at people's doorsteps make the news. These are cases where people are attacked just as they step out of their front door, but in many instances, there are persimmon or chestnut trees in the yard that serve as food. Another characteristic is that many cases occur at homes near forest edges or rivers. This is because bears often use rivers and waterways to come down from the mountains.

Furthermore, these accidents occur in the early morning, and many of the victims are elderly. Why? Hardworking people from farming backgrounds (especially the elderly), who start their day earlier than those in the city, head out to work even when it is dark outside. While bears judge time by light and darkness, humans check the time with clocks. Therefore, on rainy or cloudy days when dawn is late, humans may encounter bears that came into the yard during the night, unfortunately leading to accidents. To avoid such accidents, simple measures like singing or making noise before stepping out of the house (giving the bear a chance to escape) are effective.

When we consider the commonalities of each accident and the behavioral characteristics of humans and bears based on on-site investigations, cause and effect become linked. However, in reality, these are not sufficiently verified, and even the victims themselves often have little awareness that the bear's appearance in their yard was caused by the trees in the garden.

It is generally said that mother and cub bears are dangerous, and there are cases where a mother bear attacks a human to protect her offspring.

For example, because bears like sweets and steal fruit, many traps are set in orchards. In such situations, it is extremely dangerous when only a cub is caught in the trap. The mother bear, who can move freely around the trap, will be trying to save her cub. If a person comes to check the trap, they may be attacked by the mother bear with intent to harm, resulting in a major accident. To avoid such accidents, measures such as ensuring the trap door does not close under the weight of a cub are effective.

There are cases where damage escalates because a bear flees into a building, such as a barn, a souvenir shop, or a school building. The act of charging into a man-made structure may seem strange at first, but to a bear, the dark interior resembles a cave where it can hide. Although difficult in the heat of the moment, providing an escape route for the bear is another way to reduce damage.

Cooperation with the police is essential for collecting and analyzing information on such cases. For example, victims of bear attacks often suffer serious injuries, and it is natural for them to want to erase the traumatic memory as quickly as possible. Consequently, even if bear researchers like myself try to interview them to prevent recurrence following police investigations and hearings, many people remain silent, saying, "I've already spoken to the police."

While we must be fully considerate of personal information protection, if we can share information with the police and even accompany them to the scene, we can analyze the circumstances of the accident in detail, clarify the extent of the injuries (whether they were caused by claws or bite marks, where the first wound was, etc.), and use this to help prevent recurrences.

It is also important to think from the bear's perspective. Much like police profiling, we estimate the sex and age of the bear that appeared or caused the accident. By paying attention to footprints and paths through the grass, we can see their movements, such as where they came from and where they went.

I learned these things in detail not only from animal behavior experts but also from senior hunters (Matagi). Clearly, creatures behave differently depending on their age and sex. Why did that specific bear cause harm? Why did it pass through that land? If we can work with the police to analyze accidents in detail, we will be able to reduce bear accidents even further.

To avoid encounters and contact with bears, it is also important to keep them away from areas where humans live. Encountering a bear in the mountains, which is their habitat, is in a sense normal. Humans need to be aware of the presence of bears and take measures to avoid chance encounters, such as walking while playing a radio. In other words, individual measures and awareness are crucial.

However, for bears that appear in urban areas where humans live, not only individuals but also the government must take comprehensive measures. In recent years, it is believed that the bear population has increased and their habitat has expanded. There are many sightings in urban areas far from mountains and forests, and to nip potential human casualties in the bud, it is necessary to clarify the access routes bears take to reach urban areas.

For example, it is possible that bears travel from mountainous areas to urban areas along riverside forests while eating walnuts and other food. Bears feel uncomfortable in places where they are fully visible, so they move along rivers while hiding in the brush. Therefore, thoroughly mowing the grass along rivers to reduce places where bears can hide will help keep them away.

Bears also wander in search of food or to scout in preparation for the harvest season, so cutting off that objective is also an effective measure. As part of "creating villages that are unattractive to bears," we can identify the locations of chestnut and persimmon trees that serve as food within the village and (to take it to an extreme) cut them down to eliminate the motivation for appearing in the first place.

So, what kind of bears appear in urban areas? While it is only a "tendency," there seem to be many young bears (and males) with little life (?) experience. Bears are basically solitary, but large male bears are a threat to other bears. Since large males secure comfortable places with plenty of food, such as beech and acorn forests in mountainous areas, young bears are pushed out of the forest and consequently head toward urban areas. This tendency is more pronounced in years when there is little food in the mountains.

Also, as with many mammals, cases of male bears leaving their birthplace as a means of avoiding inbreeding (dispersal) have been reported. The fact that young males eventually head toward urban areas is considered one of the behaviors based on mammalian ecology.

In rural areas, depopulation and thinning populations are causing a struggle at the boundary between wildlife habitats and human activity. Even if the populations of deer and wild boar were to decrease through nuisance control or hunting as wildlife damage countermeasures, there is no guarantee that they will not target one's own fields. This is not a comment from a protectionist standpoint; rather, it is more efficient to reduce damage by pinpointing and protecting what you want to save, such as your own fields, by surrounding them with electric fences. Conversely, even if the wildlife population itself decreases, as long as they are not thoroughly excluded from the area, individuals targeting fields will always continue to exist.

Approximately 2,000 bears are captured annually in Japan. Most of these are through nuisance control; bears appearing in orchards or around private homes are lured with honey or apples and caught in traps. However, since the traps themselves use bait, they also have the effect of attracting bears to the village. If a mother bear is captured and only the cub survives, the cub will live around the village (avoiding male bears in the mountains), leading to an increase in bears whose living area is centered around human settlements. Therefore, trap-based capture requires management with set upper limits.

I feel that the way the Matagi people interact with bears is a way of life that respects animals, based on the idea that "it is natural for wildlife to be there." Many of them naturally have a sense of awe for nature, the mountains, and bears, and many love nature and animals. Because they have used the nature around them for activities like picking wild plants since childhood, they know the mountains inside and out, love the land, enter the mountains, and receive the blessings of the mountains.

While capturing with traps is in itself a "culling operation," by entering the mountains with a gun and observing the situation, one can grasp changes in bear population density and the environment. I believe it is ideal to protect and manage while understanding the background, rather than simply culling as a task.

I do not want to see a repeat of the Ezo wolf, which was driven to extinction by human hands. I want to learn from the past and explore ways to coexist as fellow inhabitants of the Earth.