Tokyo
—
A bear rampaged through the sushi section of a supermarket in central Japan on Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks that have pushed this year’s death toll to a record high.
Two customers, aged 69 and 76, were injured when the 4-foot-tall bear crossed a parking lot before entering a supermarket in Numata, about 130 miles north of Tokyo, local police said. One person was injured in the parking lot and the other inside the store.
Although the encounters were not fatal, two bear attacks earlier this month have killed seven people so far this year, the highest annual death toll since records began in 2006, according to official data and local news reports.
According to a report from Japanese public broadcaster NHK, about 40 people were shopping around 7:30 p.m. local time when a bear entered the premises and attacked the shoppers. Two customers suffered minor injuries, police said.
Experts say bears are increasingly venturing out of their traditional habitats into urban areas in search of food because climate change is preventing some animals’ traditional food sources from flowering and pollinating.
However, a supermarket manager told NHK that the bear did not seem interested in food.
“It seemed like he came into the store, tried to get out, couldn’t get out, and then got agitated,” he said.
When the manager tried to evacuate customers from the store, the bear took off running.
“I had often heard the news about bears invading stores, but I never imagined that a bear would actually come to my store,” the manager told NHK.
Earlier this month, two people were killed in bear attacks, bringing the annual death toll to seven. Later, on Wednesday morning, a body with what appeared to be bear scratch marks was discovered in northern Iwate Prefecture, and NHK reported that the death toll could rise further.
Tuesday’s attack was one of a series of reported bear-human encounters across the country this week.
Also on Tuesday, a farmer in his 20s was attacked by a bear in northern Akita Prefecture. This comes days after a Spanish tourist was attacked and injured by another animal as he walked near a shuttle bus stop in the village of Shirakawa, a popular destination in central Japan.
