Japan's Record Bear Cull: 14,000 Killed Amid Rising Attacks

Japan's Record Bear Cull: 14,000 Killed Amid Rising Attacks

Japan has culled more than 14,000 bears between April 2025 and January 2026, a response to a record year of attacks on people in 2024, according to reports from Newser and The Guardian. The cull included approximately 12,000 Asiatic black bears and 2,000 brown bears. In 2024, bears attacked more than 230 people in Japan, with 13 killed, making it the deadliest year on record, as reported by both outlets. Most attacks occurred in the mountainous northern prefectures of Akita and Iwate, where record-breaking heat affected the growth of beech nuts and acorns that bears rely on, according to The Guardian.

The government loosened shooting rules after the 2024 attacks, a move that has led to the unprecedented scale of the cull. Officials attribute the surge in bear-human conflicts to shrinking numbers of hunters, abandoned farmland, and poor acorn and beech nut harvests that drive hungry bears into villages, as reported by Newser. These factors have pushed bears closer to residential areas in search of food.

Continuing Attacks and Government Response

Despite the mass cull, attacks have continued this year. At least six people have been killed and dozens injured since April, according to Newser. The Environment Ministry is considering reducing hunting taxes to encourage more hunters, as noted by Newser, citing the Japan Times. The government has also announced a target of culling another 8,800 bears this fiscal year, as reported by both Newser and The Guardian.

In June 2025, a Japanese city suspended nearly 100 schools after a bear was spotted, highlighting the ongoing public safety concerns, according to The Guardian.

Conservation Concerns and Expert Opinions

Conservationists warn that the cull may be pushing a vulnerable species toward local extinctions without solving the problem. Yuko Muroya, chair of the Japan Bear and Forest Society (Kumamori), expressed a "profound sense of crisis," saying, "If this level of trapping continues, we believe regional extinctions are a real possibility." The Asiatic black bear is listed as globally "vulnerable" by the IUCN, and Japan is thought to hold roughly 42,000 bears, though that estimate is more than a decade old and unverified, as reported by Newser.

Dave Garshelis, co-chair of the IUCN's bear specialist group, said Japan's government "felt compelled to get rid of these bears," according to The Guardian. However, experts question the effectiveness of the broad culling approach. Geoff York, an American bear biologist, told The Guardian that from a North American perspective, the culling approach "comes across as very old school," noting that other countries have shifted to targeted removals and prevention methods.

In contrast, Shinsuike Koike, an ecologist at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said that in one study area, the Asiatic black bear population was growing 11–12% a year, according to The Guardian, suggesting that population growth may be contributing to the problem.

Alternative Approaches: Karuizawa's Model

The resort town of Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture offers a different approach to bear management. Picchio, a small Japanese conservation and nature education group, has worked since the 1990s to improve coexistence between bears and people. Staff respond to reported bear sightings with trained Karelian dogs, and when dogs aren't enough, they tranquilise and relocate bears deep in the forest, according to The Guardian. Amelia Hiorns, a British zoologist who previously worked with Picchio, explained that in summer, bears feed on low-calorie foods like mulberries and cherry blossoms, spurring them to seek additional sustenance closer to residential areas. The group's approach has been successful: no one in rural areas around Karuizawa has been attacked since 2015, Picchio says, as reported by The Guardian.

The Underlying Causes

The Guardian reports that the number of licensed hunters in Japan has fallen by more than half since 1975, reducing the capacity to manage bear populations through hunting. The ministry of environment has initiated a new nationwide bear survey, expected to take three years, to update outdated population estimates. Since the 1970s, Asiatic black bears have recolonised much of their former range on Honshu, according to The Guardian.

Research by Kumamori has documented the dieback of Mongolian oak, acorns destroyed by gray weevils, poor seed production in Japanese beech, and declines in pollinating insects, all of which may be driving bears into human settlements, as reported by The Guardian.

In November 2025, Japan's environment ministry released a plan that includes chasing bears away, installing fences, removing fruit trees, and training exercises, according to The Guardian. These measures are part of a broader strategy that some experts believe should complement or replace the cull. Conservationists argue that scattershot killing mirrors "old school" tactics that other countries have largely abandoned in favour of targeted removals and prevention.

Internationally, other countries have also resorted to culls in response to bear population pressures. In 2024, Sweden permitted hunters to kill about 20% of its brown bears, and Slovenia approved a cull for one-fifth of its dense brown bear population, as reported by The Guardian. In India, fewer than 100 sloth bears are destroyed each year, often through retaliatory killings, according to The Guardian, which also cites government data from Uttarakhand showing bears attacked 1,972 people and killed 68 over the past 25 years.

The debate over Japan's approach reflects a broader global challenge of balancing wildlife conservation with human safety. As the cull continues, the effectiveness of this strategy remains unproven, with experts and conservationists urging a shift towards coexistence measures.