Bear sightings in populated areas such as residential areas and farmlands are reported daily, but…in this program, we were able to speak with everyone who was attacked and injured by a bear in Akita Prefecture, which has the highest number of bear sightings this year.A man who suffered a serious injury, a ruptured eyeball, recounted the entire attack, including being bitten in the face.
■Exclusive “All” Testimonies Including a Man Who Was Bitten in the Face (48-year-old man attacked by a bear) “Right now, I can’t open my eyelids, but the nerves that control the muscles have been severed, and either a bear’s fang or claw got in and ruptured my eyeball.”Bears are encroaching on populated areas.This year, there have already been 27 cases of people being injured by bears nationwide.More than half of these have occurred in areas where people live. “Don’t come, Kei (son), Kei!”In in-depth coverage spanning a month and a half, we interviewed all four victims in Akita Prefecture. (90-year-old man attacked by a bear) “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to get hurt.'” He spoke of the terror of bear attacks.
■ Bear bites face, ruptured eyeball In Akita Prefecture, the number of bear attacks this fiscal year has already reached five, including the death of a woman in her 70s who was attacked by a bear while mowing grass near her home on the 2nd of this month. There have been 1,338 bear sightings from the 1st of last month to today, nearly double the number for the same period last year. The first bear attack in the prefecture this fiscal year occurred on the 5th of last month in Yurihonjo City. A 48-year-old farmer was approached by a bear… (Man attacked by bear (48)) “I was working facing this way when I heard a threatening sound from behind, like a guffing or gasping sound. When I turned around, it was within reach.” The man, who suffered serious facial injuries, was wearing sunglasses on only one side to reduce the amount of light entering his right eye. “Right now I can’t open my eyelid because the nerves that control the muscles are severed, so I can’t open my eyelid. If I get the OK after eye surgery, they’ll apparently do surgery to reconnect those nerves. I don’t feel any pain around here either. I can’t even move my eyebrows.” Q. You don’t have much sensation right now? “That’s right. I think a bear’s fangs or claws got in and ruptured my eyeball.
I feel like I was pushed down and they aimed for my head. I was screaming while defending my head, and I think I was bitten two or three times. It was soft, like eating chicken cartilage, and I think it was probably the bone right below my eye that made that sound.” He says he has almost no vision in his right eye right now. He has injuries in other places besides his face… “I think this is probably the bear’s hind leg.” Q. You were stepped on? “Yes. The claws went right through my boots. My hand is like this too. I think this is probably the bear’s front claws.” Q. Your fingers too? “Yes.” Covered in blood, he took refuge in a nearby shop. The man was then airlifted to a university hospital by helicopter. He was hospitalized for more than 10 days and has not yet been able to return to work. To regain her daily life, she does the following every day without fail: “To check the distance between objects and my hands. The wounds themselves are healing, so now it’s just a matter of getting my body moving properly for rehabilitation. I was told that if I don’t move these fingers, they’ll stiffen up. Like, I can only grip this far, I can only open my hand this far.” “Well, in hindsight, I’m glad that my hands and feet are safe… my eyesight is poor, but I’m glad it was me who got hurt this far. Not an elderly person, or children since there’s an elementary school nearby.”
■Bear attack → The reason for “enduring for over 8 hours” On the 28th of last month, an 80-year-old woman was attacked by a bear in Ugo Town, Akita Prefecture, when she was about to go foraging for wild vegetables. (Woman attacked by bear (80s)) “Ah! There were about this many bears.” Q. Two bears? “Yes, so I said ‘Ah,’ and the moment I stood up, there was a bang. I thought the bear was coming, and I thought, ‘This is the end.'” The woman, who suffered injuries to her left hand, back, and chest, later returned home on her own. However, her family didn’t find out until more than eight hours later. (Family of the woman attacked by the bear) “When I got home, my grandmother had prepared all the meals and was enduring the pain, and her hand was wrapped up in bandages, so I asked her, ‘What happened?’ and she said, ‘I was attacked by a bear.’ She also said, ‘I took paracetamol (painkiller).’ I told her, ‘You can’t do that, let’s go to the hospital first.'” Why did she endure it for more than eight hours? In fact, the woman’s family had warned her not to go foraging for wild vegetables alone. (Woman attacked by bear (80s)) “Oh, I was imagining that I would be scolded, that I would be scolded.” The woman sustained injuries that required several stitches, and is now recovering well.
■”Prefectural police vs. one bear” 30-minute standoff “It was looking this way, it was looking this way and shaking” In Yurihonjo City, bears have been sighted almost every day since the beginning of May. Of the five people attacked in the prefecture, three are residents of Yurihonjo. On the 2nd of this month, a bear was spotted at the mouth of a river near the port. (Man who witnessed it) “At first I thought it was a bird, but it had ears so I thought it was a bear.” “Call the police.” The bear that came ashore reportedly stared down the police who arrived on the scene for nearly 30 minutes. (Man who witnessed it) “The police officers sounded sirens and used firecrackers to scare it away. (The bear) seemed pretty used to people, I don’t know if it was used to humans or not.”
■30cm distance “I talked to the bear” At a distance of 30cm, the bear was literally right in front of his eyes. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to get attacked.'” The 90-year-old man braced himself for the moment. On the 3rd of this month, a security camera at a company in the city captured a bear crossing a parking lot. Two hours later, a 90-year-old man was attacked by a bear while working nearby. The bear suddenly appeared in front of the man who was working in a field. (Man attacked by bear) “I thought, ‘Oh, it really is a bear, oh, I’m gonna get hurt.’ This is how close we were. I don’t think the bear and I were even 30cm apart. I did talk to the bear.” Q. What did you say? “I said, ‘What are you doing showing up here now?'” The man was still bitten. There were vivid bite marks from its fangs… “It bit me around here.” Q. Your head too? “It looks like it bit me here too.” “These are its claws.”
■ “Bear” appears immediately upon opening the front door, causing injury after falling. Then, on the 9th, the bear appeared in the city center. At 6 a.m., a bear was roaming through a residential area in the early morning. It slowly walked away, looking left and right. About 40 minutes later, the bear was seen on a riverbank 600m further into the residential area. Just before the bear was sighted in two locations, an 80-year-old woman was injured when she encountered a bear. (Woman in her 80s who encountered the bear) “I picked up the newspaper and was saying, ‘Oh, what a nice day…’ ” “I was like this, here. Then (the bear) came closer and came up to this point. I screamed, ‘Oh, it’s a bear!'” Q. You screamed? “I think I made a loud noise myself.” The woman fell and was injured. She said that a precious earthenware pot that she had placed by the front door was broken by the bear. (Woman in her 80s who encountered the bear) “It was a good thing I closed it, otherwise (the bear) would have come over where it had fallen.” In Yurihonjo City, measures such as setting up box traps in places where bears have appeared have been taken, but the bear that attacked the person has still not been caught. From “Udo Times” June 14 [TV Asahi NEWS]
