Bear Captured After Four-Day Hunt as 94 Schools Close in Japanese City
The city of Utsunomiya was paralyzed for days after a giant black bear wandered its streets, prompting the closure of dozens of schools and sending residents indoors in fear. The tense search that began on Saturday ended on Tuesday with a dramatic capture in the middle of a residential neighborhood, bringing an end to a manhunt that had gripped the entire country.
Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan, breathed a sigh of relief this week after an intense four-day search. The drama began on Saturday morning, when a male Asian black bear, weighing about 100 kilograms and about one meter long, was first seen wandering near a park and shopping center in the city center.
The presence of the wild animal in the heart of the densely populated urban area, home to about half a million people, led to unusual emergency measures. Utsunomiya city ordered all 94 public elementary and junior high schools in the city to close on Monday and Tuesday. Utsunomiya University was also forced to suspend all classes on Tuesday after the bear was spotted wandering through campus.
During the days of the search, residents were on high alert and instructed to stay inside buildings and vehicles, lock doors and windows carefully, and avoid taking out trash at night. Police vehicles with loudspeakers patrolled the streets and issued warnings, while television networks broadcast live from helicopters images of officers armed with metal shields and long sticks searching the neighborhoods.
The climax came on Tuesday afternoon, when the bear was located in the yard of a private home in the Higashi-Anza district. A team of experts from the local zoo, equipped with tranquilizer rifles, fired three darts at the bear. After being struck by a dart that hit its mark, the bear was sedated and safely captured at around 3:45 p.m., loaded onto a truck and removed from the area. Fortunately, the incident ended without injuries.
This is the first time a bear has been captured inside the city of Utsunomiya. The incident comes against the backdrop of a worrying rise in bear attacks and sightings in Japan, with experts pointing to climate change and a shortage of natural food as factors pushing wild animals to seek food near human settlements.
