Heightened anxiety might be behind slew of bear sightings in Sapporo

SAPPORO -- A string of bear sighting has been reported in Sapporo since late April, but traces of the animals actually wandering in the city -- such as footprints and droppings -- have not been confirmed at many of the sites, suggesting that heightened fear among residents, partly fueled by multiple bear attacks in 2021, may be making them see brown bears that aren't actually there.

Police received a call on the night of April 19 from a woman in her 20s saying that she saw "a bear-like animal passing by a street" in Sapporo's Kita Ward. Since then, a string of bear sightings across the city have been reported to authorities. According to Hokkaido Prefectural Police, 23 bear sighting reports had been filed with police in in the northernmost prefecture as of the morning of May 6. In Sapporo's Higashi Ward, three elementary and junior high schools near the site of bear sightings canceled classes after three sightings were reported.

The number of bear sightings in Hokkaido totaled 2,197 in 2021, up 381 from the previous year, with casualties including deaths rising to 12 from the previous year's three -- both record highs. Similarly, Sapporo saw the second highest number of bear sightings in 2021, while four residents in Higashi Ward suffered injuries in bear attacks.

However, in the majority of cases reported in 2022, the animals were not spotted by anyone else but those who initially reported the sightings. In those cases, no bears were captured by security cameras in the neighborhood, and some have pointed out that the reports might be a result of "illusions" of the animals. This suggests a cycle in which a sense of anxiety is leading to "bear" sightings and the increased number of reports is further fueling people's fear.

Hokkaido Research Organization research specialist Tsutomu Mano says information-sharing can help alleviate residents' anxiety. Right before the 2021 bear attack in Higashi Ward where four people got attacked, footprints believed to belong to a brown bear were spotted on the shore of the Ishikari River just past the city limits. This information, however, was not properly shared among local governments.

In addition to identifying problem-causing animals and observing them, improving the management of waterways, windbreaks and irrigation channels that serve as their pathways when they enter urban areas while hiding from humans is crucial. However, there is no framework for central and local governments to share information covering wider areas.

Mano told the Mainichi Shimbun, "Brown bears that have learned that humans do nothing don't hesitate to come to the town. Authorities need to work together with a shared sense of crisis before brown bear attacks become a daily occurrence."

(Japanese original by Takumi Taniguchi, Hokkaido News Department)