Rampaging bear in Japan injures 4 before being shot dead
A wild brown bear on the the loose all night in a city in northern Japan wounded four people, entered a military camp and disrupted flights at the airport Friday before being shot and killed by authorities
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A wild brown bear on the the loose all night in a city in northern Japan wounded four people, entered a military camp and disrupted flights at the airport Friday before being shot and killed by authorities.
The bear was seen wandering through the streets of Sapporo in the early hours of Friday, triggering a number of calls to police. Over the next eight hours, Hokkaido prefectural police said the bear injured a woman in her 80s, a man in his 70s and a man in his 40s before attacking a soldier.
Police said the condition of those injured was not known, but the Asahi newspaper reported that the man in his 40s suffered serious injuries to his chest, back and limbs after he was mauled by the bear while walking on the street.
Footage on local television showed the bear wandering a street in Sapporo. Chased by a car, it crossed a busy road and forced its way into the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Okadama. The bear knocked down a uniformed soldier on duty at the gate.
The soldier suffered cuts to his chest and stomach, but his injuries were not life threatening, according to the Defense Ministry.
Next the bear ran through the camp and intruded onto the runway at a nearby airport, causing several flights to be grounded.
The bear then ran into a forest, where it was shot by local hunters.
Toshihiro Hamada, an official at Sapporo city environmental department, said the bear's presence in town was a surprise and officials were investigating how the animal ended up in town.
“We are sorry that four people were injured,” Hamada said.
Brown bears roam mainly in Hokkaido forests, but experts say they have been increasingly spotted in inhabited areas looking for food, especially during the summer.
___
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi