The Japanese city of Utsunomiya has taken the unprecedented step of suspending all 94 of its primary and middle schools after its first-ever recorded bear sighting.
The city, home to half a million residents and located about 100km north of Tokyo, reported the bear was initially spotted in a residential area near a park on Saturday evening. The animal remains at large, with its last confirmed sighting early Monday morning just half a kilometre from a middle school.
This incident comes amid a concerning rise in bear attacks across Japan, including within urban environments. In response, the government established a task force this year to mitigate casualties.
Last week, a separate bear attack in the northeastern city of Fukushima left at least four people injured. Security footage from Fukushima Steel Works captured a black bear pursuing a worker at the factory entrance before knocking them to the ground.
While Asiatic black bears are globally classified as a vulnerable species, their numbers in Japan are estimated to have tripled since 2012, partly due to a decline in hunting.
Experts attribute this surge in activity near human settlements to climate change, which has reduced natural food sources like acorns and beechnuts, alongside the depopulation of rural areas and the proliferation of abandoned farmland.
