TOKYO: A Tokyo suburb has announced an emergency spending plan to buy 700 anti-bear sprays for schools and community organisations, the local government told AFP on Wednesday (Jun 24), as the animals increasingly encroach into built-up areas around Japan.<\/p>\n
Japan saw a record 13 people killed by bears last fiscal year, according to the environment ministry, and five more fatalities and 20 people injured between Apr 1 and May 30 this year.<\/p>\n
Hachioji is on the outskirts of the vast Japanese capital region and, on weekends, draws Tokyoites to its popular hiking trails into the nearby forested mountains.<\/p>\n
Eleven sightings or signs of bears have been reported there since April, with a motion-activated camera capturing footage of a black bear around a residence on Apr 29, broadcaster NHK reported.<\/p>\n
The city will spend 15 million yen (US$93,000) on sprays, movable electric fences and devices that make high-pitched sounds, local government spokesman Ryosuke Sato told AFP.<\/p>\n
It is also planning to draft an action plan to call in hunters and take other measures in case bears appear in local neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
“By closely working with police and hunters, we are drafting a manual on how to deal with bears should they come to our streets,” Sato added.<\/p>\n
In the latest fiscal year ending in March, bear sightings nationwide topped 50,000, more than double the previous record set two years earlier, according to official data.<\/p>\n
In recent months, there has been a jump in sightings after the bears emerged from hibernation, as well as incidents of bears entering urban areas.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, all schools closed<\/a> in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, after a bear roamed the city and evaded dozens of police officers and hunters for four days before being captured.<\/p>\n