Is that a Bear?
A bear roamed the streets of a Japanese city for four days. The bear sightings had forced the closure of all 94 public primary and middle schools in the city for two days. Terrified families in the city of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, peered through windows as a search mission that included helicopters tried to track down the animal following multiple sightings, including in a shopping arcade, at a university and at a wholesale market. A city official told AFP it was not clear whether there was one bear or more roaming the city. Separately, an “extremely intelligent” bear that injured four people in Fukushima in northern Japan has remained at large after apparently unlatching a window while evading capture. A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan last year, and there has been a jump in sightings as the animals emerge hungry from hibernation.
On Tuesday dozens of police officers, hunters and city officials surrounded a private home where the bear was spotted. Issei Okabe, a 37-year-old house painter who lives in an apartment next to the house where the bear was caught, “My child goes to the primary school nearby… and news reports said a bear appeared around there,” he said. “Then I watched the news, and our house was shown, I was so surprised. This is the first time I heard of a wild bear in Utsunomiya.” City officials used a drone Tuesday to track the animal down after it was spotted earlier in the day at a university campus. The city issued bear warnings via social media and dispatched a public announcement vehicle, urging residents to take shelter inside buildings and vehicles if they encounter a bear, and to make sure to lock doors and windows and not to put out garbage at night.
On Tuesday afternoon, the bear was found on a private property and shot by a veterinarian with a tranquilizer gun. Nobody was injured. The bear scare in Utsunomiya was the latest example of encroachment by Japan’s growing bear population in areas with an aging and declining human population. The animals have been seen on airport runways, walking on golf courses, roaming near schools and causing panic in supermarkets and hot spring resorts almost on a daily basis. The problem was so bad that last year the U.S. State Department warned Americans in Japan to be alert for bears. The Fukushima mayor said officials also saw the bear drinking water from a drinking fountain, adding it may have turned the handle itself, and describing it as being “extremely intelligent.” They are weighing the use of an AI-powered image analysis system for trail cameras, while KDDI SmartDrone says its unmanned aircraft system can help municipalities track bears without training. The drones are equipped with thermal cameras and can follow bears through dense vegetation until police arrive.
Bearly funny
I’m glad China only spread a virus and not a bear.
Otherwise we’d have a Pandademic.
Why did the bear with alopecia go to his GP?
To get a re-furral.
What do they do at the teddy bear factory?
Stuff.
Will carrying a torch save me from an attacking bear?
Depends on how fast you can carry it.
June 11th Birthdays
1989 – Claire Holt, 1999 – Saxon Sharpino, 2000 – Kaitlyn Nacon, 1989 – Maya Moore
1956 – Joe Montana, 1960 – Dr. Mehmet Oz, 1933 – Gene Wilder, 1911 – Jacques Cousteau