Bears designated as animal subject to subsidized culling in Japan

Yuko Murotani, chief of the Japan Bear and Forest Society, said the government should focus on measures to separate the habitat of bears from that of humans, instead of culling the animals.

The environment group based in Hyogo Prefecture collected 14,749 signatures from people opposed to the policy and submitted them to the ministry in February.

Once again and as per usual the Japanese government ignores the wishes of the people by upping the slaughter…

Besides the bears and the inoshishi, crows seriously need to be culled as well. They're taking over cities.

Besides the bears and the inoshishi, crows seriously need to be culled as well. They're taking over cities.

Do

Tom Selleck

As someone who occasionally identifies as a bear (while hiking) I like your idea.

A BBQ in the woods could complete the vice and the versa as well.

Stop expanding into bears territory and everyone will be happy.

Killing, er, culling is what the human animal excels at. Another way, that of learning co-existence with our animal neighbors, might be to ban the gathering of mountain vegetables and just let bears do what bears do in the woods.

Once again faced with the choice between a complicated and expensive (but positive) solution to a problem and the easy/cheap way out, the Japanese government goes for easy.

@WoodyLee

With the aging of society, people no longer go into the mountains, more and more fields are lying fallow and being taken over by bamboo so the wilderness comes closer and closer to human habitation, causing the problem. I remember when the mountains were full of roads and trails but they have virtually all disappeared now, along with the fields.

Once a bear attacks a human and gets a taste of blood, it will absolutely attack again. This is a fact.

Hunters out there in the mountains should focus on shooting to kill those bears implicated in prior assaults on humans - particularly those who have killed.

As the human population of Japan dwindles- particularly in the rural regions - bear attacks will become an increasing danger unless more are shot dead, sad as that may seem.

Stop expanding into bears territory and everyone will be happy.

Literally the opposite is happening. Humans in Japan have been retreating from bear habitats over the past few decades, and moving to urban areas like Tokyo.

thepersoniamnowToday  07:53 am JST

Tom Selleck

As someone who occasionally identifies as a bear (while hiking) I like your idea.

A BBQ in the woods could complete the vice and the versa as well.

Maybe a Picnic in the woods would be preferable maybe with Ted?

I think politicians should fall under the same subsidized culling plan!!!

Once a bear attacks a human and gets a taste of blood, it will absolutely attack again. This is a fact.

This is well-known urban myth, and one I think you have stated before (and been corrected on).

The bear taste for blood myth is completely false as any simple search will show you results from actual scientists. Not something based on movies and videos games.

Would be interested in seeing the "list of animals that can be culled with the help of government subsidies" and compare it with such lists of other nations.

The increase in the bear population in Japan, and the resulting human/bear encounters is the result of eliminating or reducing hunting back in the 90s because of the diminished bear population. Nature bounds back and does not remain static. In an effort to preserve the European brown bears, hunting was banned in many countries,such as Spain, where today there is a movement to revive hunting/culling to reduce their numbers. Culling is a wildlife management tool which should be applied where necessary.

This is well-known urban myth, and one I think you have stated before (and been corrected on).

Not the rest of us then. Educate us because a quick Google search is not telling me bears that have attacked once before are not an elevated risk. Thanks in advance.

Once a bear attacks a human and gets a taste of blood, it will absolutely attack again. This is a fact.

There's no evidence for that beyond anecdotes.

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/10listens-does-a-bear-become-more-aggressive-toward-humans-after-it-eats-human-flesh/51-482ff3c9-6501-48dd-aa08-c342e55a7cfb

https://www.wwlp.com/news/grizzly-bear-and-human-interaction/

There's no evidence for that beyond anecdotes.

The links you provided don't really answer the question either way.

"These incidents are so rare across North America and the rest of the world where bears exist, there really isn't a lot of data to be able to say one way or the other."

Perhaps bears that have attacked and overcome their fear of humans are more likely to do the same again. It wouldn't be illogical to speculate that. Perhaps they do favour the saltier taste of human blood once tasted.

The links you provided don't really answer the question either way.

Right. As in 'no evidence.'

Perhaps bears that have attacked and overcome their fear of humans are more likely to do the same again. It wouldn't be illogical to speculate that. Perhaps they do favour the saltier taste of human blood once tasted.

Well, one link addresses that:

"There is some research with big cats that once they had a taste of blood, the saltiness in human blood may be a reason for them to return but in an animal like a bear, there is no need for a bear to obtain more salt and there is really no proof of that. I think that’s a misnomer, that’s us as humans trying to put on that bears are bad.”"

Also, perhaps after one attack, bears will recognise humans as a viable and available resource. Perhaps they attack again because they have moved into an area where there happen to be more people, or vice versa.

I wasn't saying that a bear that has attacked a human once will never attack one again, just that there's no evidence for the salty blood angle.

Not the rest of us then. Educate us because a quick Google search is not telling me bears that have attacked once before are not an elevated risk. Thanks in advance

Not my job. It is those who claim that bears with a taste for human blood "will absolutely kill again."

If this evidence is clearly presented, I will acknowledge my error. But as no such evidence exists to my knowledge, I will stick to the view that it is an urban myth.