Police are searching for a missing fisherman after a mangled human head was found on Monday afternoon following a suspected bear attack.
Toshihiro Nishikawa, 54, was dropped off by boat on Sunday morning at a solo fishing spot on Japan’s Lake Shumarinai, in Horokanai, Hokkaido, Kyodo News reported. Later that morning, the boat operator caught sight of a bear with fishing boots dangling from its mouth.
The operator tried to call Nishikawa, but couldn’t get through.
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When Nishikawa didn’t return, the Horokanai town office launched a bear hunt operation, which resulted in a bear being shot in the area on Monday afternoon.
A human head was also discovered during the operation, near where Nishikawa went missing. However, police are yet to confirm whether the head belonged to Nishikawa.
Japan is home to two species of bear: the Asiatic black bear and the Ussuri brown bear. Brown bears are only found on Hokkaido, which is the northern-most island of the Japanese archipelago.
The Ussuri brown bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, found in Japan, China and southeastern Russia. They are slightly smaller than North American brown bears—also known as grizzly bears—but they are still larger than the Asiatic black bears found on mainland Japan.
According to official reports, 14 people were killed or injured by bears in Hokkaido in 2021, and the animals cause millions of dollars of crop damage. As a result, hundreds of brown bears are killed every year across the prefecture, and their distribution has become largely restricted to the mountains, according to reports from Hokkaido University.
The Horokanai town office issued a notice in light of the suspected attack, which it described as “haunting.” It said: “Please be careful when doing farm work, forest work, or entering the mountains near the sightings.”
According to the national park service, if you ever find yourself face to face with a bear, it’s important to stay calm and stand your ground. Do not run or give them access to food and make yourself as large as possible. If you have any children with you, pick them up immediately but do not make any sudden movements.
Should a bear attack you, there are different strategies for different bears: for brown/grizzly bears, the park service recommends playing dead, but you should do the opposite if you encounter a black bear. If escape is not possible, try fighting back with any objects available.