[/floatr]Asahi: Record 5,185 bears captured or killed in fiscal '06
A total of 5,185 bears were caught or killed nationwide in fiscal 2006, 4.4 times more than the previous year and the highest figure since the Environment Ministry started compiling such data in 1923. The record number was partly attributed to the poor acorn harvest last fall, which forced bears to search for food near human settlements, the ministry said Monday. In addition, bears are becoming less intimidated by communities in rural and mountainous areas, where populations are declining and aging, the ministry said. There were 144 incidents involving bears and humans in prefectures such as Nagano, Toyama and Hokkaido. Five of the people were killed in bear attacks, according to the ministry. About 90 percent of the bears, or 4,679, were killed. According to the ministry's data, 339 of the animals were Hokkaido's higuma brown bears, while the remaining 4,846 were tsukinowaguma Japanese black bears. Nagano Prefecture recorded the most captures and kills of bears, at 704, followed by Yamagata Prefecture's 689 and Niigata Prefecture's 504.
