The sensible watch of a Japanese hiker who was killed in a bear mauling has supplied terrifying perception into the person’s closing moments, together with when the bear allegedly returned to retrieve his physique.
His demise comes throughout a 12 months the nation has seen a document variety of bear assaults. 13 individuals have died because the begin of April, based on the Japanese atmosphere ministry. The whole variety of assaults stands at 220 — additionally a document, Japanese information outlet NHK reported in late November, with probably the most deaths occurring within the northern prefecture of Iwate.
GPS from the hiker’s watch, which logged the 1,661-meter route he was taking down Mount Rausu in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, and tracked his coronary heart charge, was retrieved after the lethal assault on Aug. 14, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun wrote.
The person was strolling about 200 metres forward of a pal close to an space generally known as the “560-meter rocky peak,” when the pal heard a cry for assist and ran down a slope to search out the person being dragged by a brown bear into the bushes, based on the Japanese newspaper.
The watch’s information recorded erratic actions at round 11 a.m., together with a sudden deviation from the climbing path, a descent down a slope lined with timber, and circling in an space thick with foliage, CBS Information reported.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
It additionally confirmed that the person’s coronary heart stopped beating between 90 and 120 metres from the path, indicating that he had died.
The watch didn’t transfer from the realm the place the person’s coronary heart stopped all night time, however started shifting round 9:00 a.m. the next morning, suggesting the bear got here again for his physique, which it dragged greater than 100 metres by way of the woods, Asahi wrote.
Three days later, a bear with two cubs was seen dragging the physique in its mouth, the outlet added. Hunters killed all three, it stated.
A pile of earth dug up by the bear was discovered close by, and the stays of the person — who had lately gotten engaged — had been found, the report added.
Officers later directed the person’s dad and mom at Shari Police Station to determine the person’s stays, however suggested them solely to have a look at his face as a result of extent of his accidents.
The mauling in Hokkaido got here weeks after a person in a busy city space within the Gunma Prefecture, close to Numata railway station, north of Tokyo, was mauled whereas exiting a public restroom, sustaining minor accidents to his leg.
The bear fled the scene after the person started yelling and kicking his legs in self-defence, The Guardian reported.
The station the place the bear assault occurred is centrally situated in Numata Metropolis, near houses and eating places, and only one kilometre from the town corridor.
The toilet encounter got here a few month after a bear wandered right into a grocery retailer in the identical city space and reportedly attacked an individual within the car parking zone earlier than mendacity on high of a buyer and ransacking the meals counter.
In the identical week, a person was mauled to demise by a bear whereas out selecting mushrooms, and one other particular person was discovered decapitated in a suspected bear assault, marking an uptick in such confrontations, Japanese officers stated.
In response to the uptick in assaults, the Japanese authorities has put aside about 3.4 billion yen ($22 million USD) for bear-control measures in a draft supplementary funds, based on NHK. It has additionally mobilized the navy to help native hunters in trapping bears.
Armed police have additionally been permitted to shoot the animals as native searching populations decline.
© 2025 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
