Japan Kills 14,000 Bears in Nine Months After Record-Breaking Attacks

Photo: Ali Kazal / Pexels

Japan has killed more than 14,000 bears between April 2025 and January 2026 in response to an unprecedented surge in human-bear conflicts that made last year the deadliest on record for bear-related fatalities in the country. Despite the massive cull, six people have already been killed this year, and the government now plans to remove another 8,800 bears as conflicts continue to escalate across the nation.

Last year marked a grim milestone when bears attacked more than 230 people across Japan, resulting in 13 deaths-the highest death toll ever recorded from bear encounters in the country. Most attacks occurred in the mountainous northern prefectures of Akita and Iwate, where record-breaking heat severely affected the growth of beech nuts and acorns that bears depend on to fatten up for hibernation. The combination of climate-driven food shortages and diminished human populations in Japan’s rural areas, with orchards and woodlands left abandoned, created conditions that drove hungry bears into villages seeking sustenance.

The crisis dominated national and international headlines, prompting foreign governments-including the United Kingdom-to issue travel advisories warning visitors of heightened bear risk. Insurance companies began offering specialized “bear insurance” policies to cover repairs to ransacked properties, while desperate farmers installed animatronic wolves with glowing red eyes to frighten off the animals. Warning posters appeared on lamp-posts throughout affected regions, and one Japanese company even began promoting a private bear attack shelter.

A Different Approach in Karuizawa

Every summer, millions of people escape the heat and humidity of Tokyo by heading to the tranquil resort town of Karuizawa in Japan’s Nagano prefecture-just an hour by bullet train from the capital. At the foot of Mount Asama, visitors stroll bamboo-lined pathways, cycle in verdant highlands, and practise the wellness ritual of shinrin-yoku, bathing among the cool hinoki forests. But this idyllic nature retreat shares its space with bears, particularly from June to August when the animals move close to town.

During these months, bears feed on mulberries, ants, leaves and cherry blossoms that grow near the town-foods that are low in calories compared to nuts, spurring the animals to seek out further sustenance. Amelia Hiorns, a British zoologist who previously worked with Picchio Wildlife Research Centre in the town, explains the timing problem: “They’re more likely to get close to residential spaces to see what they can find. This combines with the busiest season for tourists.”

Picchio, a small Japanese conservation and nature education group, has been working to improve coexistence between bears and people in Karuizawa and the surrounding region since the 1990s. Staff respond to reported bear sightings with one of their three Karelian Bear Dogs-a breed trained in the western United States specifically to chase away bears. When dogs prove insufficient, the Picchio team tranquilizes and relocates bears deep into the forest rather than killing them.

Rising Conflicts Despite Conservation Efforts

In Karuizawa, Hiroo Tamatani, the leader of Picchio’s bear team, reports that his organization has already captured 19 bears this year and responded to more than 130 sightings and incidents-representing an increase of approximately 20% compared to the same period last year. However, he notes that there has been no corresponding rise in the actual number of bear damage incidents, suggesting that increased vigilance and reporting rather than worsening behavior may account for some of the higher numbers.

Today, Karuizawa’s approach has few parallels in Japan as conflicts between bears and humans surge to unprecedented levels across the country. While Picchio focuses on non-lethal management and relocation, the national response has favored large-scale culling as the primary solution to the growing problem. According to the national government, a rise in bear attacks can be credited to the lack of skilled hunters available to help manage the population effectively.

The Hunter Shortage Crisis

Local hunting associations have struggled to attract new members, with the number of licensed hunters falling steadily over recent years. This decline compounds the challenge of managing bear populations in rural areas where human presence continues to shrink. The aging and dwindling population of experienced hunters means fewer people are available to respond quickly to bear incursions into populated areas or to conduct systematic population management before conflicts arise.

The combination of climate change, rural depopulation, and hunter shortages has created a perfect storm for human-bear conflict in Japan. Record-breaking temperatures disrupt natural food sources, abandoned farmlands provide easy foraging opportunities near human settlements, and insufficient management capacity allows bear populations to expand into areas where contact with people becomes inevitable. The result has been a dramatic escalation in both the frequency and severity of bear encounters across the country.

Looking Ahead

With the government planning to remove another 8,800 bears and six people already killed this year despite last year’s massive cull of over 14,000 animals, questions remain about the long-term effectiveness of lethal control as the primary management strategy. Conservation groups like Picchio continue to demonstrate that coexistence approaches using trained dogs, relocation, and community education can reduce conflicts without resorting to widespread killing, but scaling such programs nationally faces significant logistical and financial hurdles.

As Japan grapples with this escalating wildlife crisis, the contrast between Karuizawa’s coexistence model and the national culling strategy highlights fundamental questions about how human societies can adapt to sharing space with large predators in an era of climate instability and demographic change. Whether the country can find a sustainable balance that protects both human safety and bear populations remains one of the most pressing environmental challenges facing Japan today.