In Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, a pet cat was eaten by a bear. The cat’s owner recounted the horrific incident.
■Bear attacks and eats pet cat In Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, a pet cat was attacked by a bear. (Owner of the attacked cat) “The bear attacked the cat right there, went downstairs, and ate it there.” It was around 1 p.m. yesterday, the 23rd. “This is the pushcart. He always slept here. I think he probably basked in the sun and slept here during the warmer hours. He was a tabby cat with a short, curved tail.” Q. Did you give him a name? “I named him ‘Tama’.”
The attacked cat was “Tama,” a tabby cat that the owner had kept since birth. He was a 6-year-old male. “I’ve seen the bear pass by here and grabbed the cat. It was a big adult bear. He was quite skinny, but he must have been really hungry.” The owner said he saw the bear in the same place again that day. Q. This happened this morning, right? “No, it was really just 10 minutes ago. I threw a big stone at it from up there and it moved, so I threw stones at it several more times from up there and it went up the mountain on the other side.”
■Two dead, bear attacks on people Amid heightened vigilance against bears following a series of incidents, the Tohoku Kizuna Festival, which brings together festivals from the six prefectures of Tohoku, was held in Morioka City. In fact, 10 days ago, a bear appeared at the shrine where the festival was being held. The sensor light reacted, and the bear’s figure could be clearly seen. T
he shrine where the bear appeared. In the morning, before many people came to the festival, the shrine grounds were inspected. The assistant priest loads gunpowder into a bear-repellent gun as a good luck charm. (Sakurayama Shrine, Assistant Priest Jun Iwabuchi) “We don’t intend to use it except in tense situations to drive them away. It’s just a good luck charm, but we hope that we’ll have to avoid shooting it as much as possible.” In the past week, there have also been many incidents of bears attacking people. On the 19th, a body of unknown gender was found in the mountains of Okutama, Tokyo… On the 20th, the body of an 85-year-old man was discovered in Iwate. It is believed that both may have been attacked by bears.
■ “A bear cub ‘jumped'” Man rushed to hospital after being hit by a bear How do bears attack… Five days ago, a man who was hit by a bear recounted his terrifying experience. (Masatoshi Seki (70), who was hit by a bear) “The bear jumped over here with a bang, and hit me in the face as it jumped.” Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, the birthplace of Uonuma Koshihikari rice. Seki, a rice farmer, was preparing to plant rice when it happened. (Masatoshi Seki) “I had my back to the bear, so I didn’t sense its presence at all. It came from behind me and hit me with a bang. I think it jumped to get over here.” At that moment, the bear’s claws hit him in the face, causing bleeding. He was rushed to the hospital. (Masatoshi Seki) “It was about 1 meter long, so I think it was a cub. If it had been bigger, I wonder what would have happened to me, and thinking about that is really scary.” How long will the vigilance against bears continue…?
■Last year saw a “mass appearance” of bears, what are the trends this year? (Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi, Iwate University) “June is the breeding season, and around that time, the parents and cubs that were together are separated. It’s the time when the cubs become independent, and when they become independent, they can’t find food well and come down to the villages.” Furthermore… (Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi, Iwate University) “In August, every year, there is less food in the mountains, and I think there are some individuals that temporarily depend on the villages.” According to the Ministry of the Environment, in years like last year when there was a mass appearance of bears, the number of injuries to people increases sharply from summer to autumn. It is said that many incidents have occurred in areas where people live… (Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi, Iwate University) “This year’s harvest is abundant, so I think the number of appearances in the fall will probably decrease, but there are still a fair number of individuals that have learned to be ‘tame,’ so I think that these individuals will continue to suddenly appear in urban areas.” From “Udo Times” on May 24 [TV Asahi NEWS]
A man was attacked by a bear in Tokyo and suffered serious injuries.
