A bear has been captured in Utsunomiya City. Could this be the same bear that has been sighted repeatedly for the past three days? Concerns remain among residents. [TV Asahi News]
A bear that had been sighted repeatedly in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, has been captured on the grounds of a house. According to the police, there is a possibility that there are other bears around, so vigilance continues.
There has been a development in the bear sightings that have been occurring frequently in central Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. One bear was found on the grounds of a house, and on the afternoon of the 9th, zoo staff captured it using a tranquilizer gun. The bear was seen swimming swiftly in a small river that flows through Utsunomiya City. Then, the bear climbed a stone wall, jumped over a fence, and entered the grounds of a residential area. One bear, which had been sighted frequently in Utsunomiya City, was tranquilized with a tranquilizer gun on the afternoon of the 9th and captured on the grounds of a house.
The “bear commotion” took a dramatic turn shortly after 1 p.m. on the 9th. The bear appeared in a residential area in broad daylight and entered the grounds of a house, prompting police to warn residents to stay indoors. Police officers with shields and city officials with shields and spray were also seen at the scene. People were seen preparing for the bear with various equipment. Furthermore, a cage was brought to the scene. A child on a bicycle was also seen, and was seen being urged to stay away. Security tightened as time went on, and the entire area was under a state of high alert. Residents in the vicinity also poked their heads out from their balconies to watch the situation unfold.
From above, it was visible that police and members of the hunting association had surrounded the house. People were also seen keeping watch, presumably for a bear in the bushes in the garden. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., a zoo employee with a gun climbed onto the wall and aimed his weapon. According to the prefecture, three tranquilizer darts were fired, and one hit its target. It had been four days since the first bear sighting on the 6th. In the early hours of the 7th, the bear appeared in a shopping street in the city center. Furthermore, in the early hours of the 8th, the bear was seen running past pedestrians.
Sightings continued on the 9th as well. At around 2:17 a.m., the bear appeared on a road in a residential area. Shortly after 1 p.m., the bear swam across a river, climbed over a wall, and easily climbed over a fence to enter the residential area. Under tight security, the bear was captured on the afternoon of the 9th after being shot with a tranquilizer gun. FNN Prime Online
There have been a series of bear sightings in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, and a bear that had been staying on the grounds of a private residence since around 2 PM today was captured a short while ago. The area west of Utsunomiya Station is the same location where the news recently showed footage of a bear about one meter long running through the arcade of a restaurant district. This is Utsunomiya’s largest commercial district.
Today’s sighting was on the east side of the JR station. Around 2 PM, the bear was seen swimming across a river and climbing a wall towards a residential area. According to the mayor of Utsunomiya, “emergency hunting with guns is not possible” because there is a possibility that bullets could ricochet and injure civilians, so a tranquilizer gun was used this time. The video shows the injection of the tranquilizer. The actual firing was done by a veteran wearing a black hat who used the tranquilizer gun to capture the bear. Immediately after the tranquilizer was fired, footage shows police officers looking down from an apartment building at the garden of the house where the bear was cornered. The movement you see directly beneath the roof is that of the bear that was hit with the tranquilizer. Despite being tranquilized, it took quite a while to fall down.
It gives the impression of walking steadily. As you all know, when using live ammunition to kill a bear with a hunting rifle, it’s almost always fatal unless it retaliates, but with tranquilizers, it seems they aim for the bear’s hindquarters or waist. Bears are highly intelligent animals, so they don’t fall down immediately. Even with the right dose, it takes about 10 minutes, and although it was broadcast live on “Miyaneya,” the bear didn’t stop moving for nearly an hour. It was spotted in a shopping district and has been moving around to various places since then, but naturally, there’s nothing for a wild animal to eat.
For several days, it hadn’t eaten anything and had only been replenishing its water supply somewhere. Nevertheless, the incredible stamina of bears, which is often talked about, was evident in this capture as well. According to the Ministry of the Environment, I would like to say that as of today, there are bears in Hokkaido as well. It is said that Chiba Prefecture is the only place on Honshu where the presence of Asiatic black bears has not been confirmed, but Chiba Prefecture is connected to Ibaraki Prefecture and neighboring prefectures, so it would not be surprising if they were spotted there at any time. It is said that there are no longer any in Kyushu. In Shikoku, Tokushima Prefecture is said to still have a chance of being home to them. Of course, there are none in Okinawa. As is the case for those of you in the Kinki region watching this video, bears are highly likely to spot you at close range anywhere else. The capture in Tochigi is not something to take lightly, so I think local governments will be announcing various countermeasures from now on. I hope you will keep a close eye on the situation.
In Ogawa-machi, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, located east of the Abukuma River where a bear was sighted on June 8th, residents were seen wearing bear bells while out for a walk. “Yesterday, I went to buy a slightly larger bear bell. It’s scary. Because originally, I was told that bears didn’t appear around here,” one resident said. Now, the common sense of the past is being overturned. Until now, it was said that there were no bears east of the Abukuma River in Fukushima Prefecture. However, looking at the number of sightings from April to mid-May 2026, 26 sightings have been confirmed in the Abukuma Highlands, from Nakadori to Hamadori. And in June, sightings have surged in Iwaki City. On the 3rd, a bear was spotted running around a residential area in Yotsukura-machi. At a training session on countermeasures against Asiatic black bears held at the Fukushima Prefectural Government, Associate Professor Shota Mochizuki of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture at Fukushima University, who serves as a wildlife countermeasures specialist for Fukushima Prefecture, called for vigilance, saying, “The distribution area of bears is expanding explosively.”
“Until now, bears have been confined to the depths of the mountains due to human pressure and other factors, but as human intervention gradually decreases, the environment is becoming more conducive to them expanding their range. In this context, the Abukuma River has been one limiting factor until now, but bears are now crossing the river in such large numbers that it’s becoming a concern. It’s best to travel in groups, but if that’s not possible, carry something that makes noise, such as a bear bell. It’s also important to avoid traveling early in the morning,” he said. In Fukushima Prefecture, in 2026, there have been over 460 bear sightings, 1.6 times more than the same period last year, and eight people have been injured. “They shouldn’t be here”—this old assumption doesn’t invite danger, so we must re-examine countermeasures and our perception of bears.
A bear was sighted on the premises of a business in Hotaka, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, in the early afternoon of June 9th. Police and city officials also confirmed the bear’s presence, but it reportedly fled upstream along the river
This is news about bears. Sightings have been reported one after another all over the country, and on the 7th, a bear even appeared in a shopping district in Utsunomiya City, showing that bears are increasingly encroaching on human living areas. Meanwhile, on the 8th, there were also multiple bear sightings in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and vigilance continues. (Broadcast on June 8, 2026)
Three bears spotted at Kami Agricultural High School
In Utsunomiya City, where there had been numerous bear sightings in the city center, one bear was captured with a tranquilizer gun on the afternoon of the 10th. Although the bear has been captured, police say they cannot rule out the possibility of other bears being present due to the continued sightings. Utsunomiya City has announced that it will keep all municipal elementary and junior high schools closed on the 10th as well. They will continue to maintain vigilance. ▼TBS NEWS DIG Official Website
