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Wildlife protection group receives 300 boxes of acorns for hungry bears
The Mainichi Daily News | 2011/Jan/15
...The Japan Bear and Forest Society's Gunma Prefecture branch in Takasaki has so far received about 3.5 metric tons of acorns which it will spread across mountains in the region in a bid to provide more food to bears when they come out of hibernation in the spring. The scorching heat of this past summer caused food shortages in mountain areas, leading bears to stray into residential areas nationwide in search of food last autumn, with some of them ending up shot dead...
... over 3,000 individuals and groups from across the country responded to the request and offered acorns collected from Japanese oak and beech trees, which are often located near residential areas. Many of the boxes delivered to the organization were accompanied by messages reading, "Please give them to bears," or "We've collected acorns with children."...more...