Japanese city closes nearly 100 schools after black bear sighting for first time in the municipality

A city in Japan has closed all 94 elementary and middle schools after a bear was first seen in the municipality, the Guardian reports.

Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of about half a million people located about 100 kilometers north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear, estimated to be about one meter long, was seen near a park on Saturday.

The bear was again captured on surveillance cameras running directly in front of two frightened young men in the city center in the early hours of Sunday morning.

During the day on Sunday he was also seen in residential areas, and then again in an industrial zone about two kilometers from the city center at 4 a.m. on Monday.

Utsunomiya city authorities urged residents to keep doors and windows locked, not to approach the bear if they see it, and to take shelter in the nearest building. The city also deployed vehicles with loudspeakers to warn residents. Police and a local hunting association continued the search for the animal this morning.

A record 50.000 bear sightings have been reported in Japan this year, mostly in the country's northeast. The animals are rarely seen so close to Tokyo. However, a Russian hiker was injured in a bear attack last month in Okutama, on the far western edge of the metropolitan area, and another bear appeared in the satellite city of Hachioji shortly after.

Last week, a bear in Fukushima that attacked four people entered a company office, injuring an employee, before entering the factory, from where it is believed to have escaped by opening a window from the inside.

Bear attacks in Japan have been on the rise in recent years, with a record number of deaths and injuries recorded in the year to March, the Guardian reports. Local authorities are exploring various measures, including surveillance cameras linked to artificial intelligence in an attempt to track their movements.

The exact population size is unknown, but it is estimated that there are between 12.000 and 42.000 Asiatic black bears living on the main island of Honshu, and their numbers are thought to be increasing as sightings increase. They can grow up to 1,5 meters in length and weigh up to 120 kilograms.

Larger brown bears live only on the northern island of Hokkaido, where males average about two meters in length and can weigh up to 400 kilograms. There are an estimated 12.000 of them.

Changes in the availability of bears' staple food crops, including acorns, may force them to enter towns and villages in search of food. It is thought that the decline in rural populations, especially younger people, makes residential areas quieter, making bears more likely to enter them, leading to more frequent encounters with humans.