Fukushima Mayor Yuki Baba speaks to reporters on June 2. (©Sankei/Nobuo Serizawa)
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A bear attacked four people ranging in age from their 20s to their 80s in Fukushima Prefecture on June 2, causing injuries of varying severity. The following day, the city launched efforts to capture the bear, which had remained on the grounds of an electronics equipment manufacturer.
Authorities invoked an "emergency cull" procedure, which allows local governments to authorize the shooting of dangerous wildlife. Police closed nearby roads while the city monitored the animal's movements.
The bear is an adult measuring more than one meter in length. A tranquilizer round was fired at 2:19 PM on June 3 and confirmed to have struck the animal, but the bear has not fallen asleep and remains agitated. It is currently confined to a section of a building sealed off with barricades and other barriers, with three traps set up in the area.
Three hunters are involved in the operation. Because flammable materials were found inside the building, authorities limited the emergency cull authorization to tranquilizer guns.
"If we determine it is necessary, we will shoot," Mayor Baba said. "We will do everything we can."
The Attacks
At around 6:30 AM on June 2, a bear entered Fukushima Steel Works in Sasakino, Fukushima, and attacked two employees—one in his 20s and the other in his 60s.
The bear then fled into a nearby residential neighborhood, attacking a woman in her 80s at a residence and a man in his 60s at a business facility, bringing the total injured to four.
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Author: The Sankei Shimbun
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