(JP) Environment Ministry calls for suspension of bear hunting season

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http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200612200322.html

 

Environment Ministry calls for suspension of bear

hunting season

12/20/2006

 

The Asahi Shimbun

 

The Environment Ministry decided Tuesday to urge

municipalities to suspend their bear hunting seasons

next spring, following the mass killing of the beasts

captured near human settlements.

 

According to the ministry, 5,059 bears that appeared

in residential areas were captured in 27 prefectures

from January through the end of November this year. Of

them, 4,578, or about 90 percent, were killed, and

only 481 were returned to the wild.

 

Experts warn that killing too many of the bears could

lead to their extinction in some regions.

 

The ministry decided to call for a suspension of the

spring hunting season. During that period, hunters are

allowed to shoot bears in some regions to protect

people entering the mountains to collect edible wild

plants.

 

The bear hunting season in Honshu, Japan's main

island, lasts until mid-February.

 

The number of bear-human incidents reached a record

high this year, with 147 people either being injured

or killed by the animals, ministry officials said.

 

One incident involved a 79-year-old woman in Kyoto

Prefecture earlier this month. A bear in the woman's

garden suddenly attacked her.

 

She suffered a broken cheek bone in the attack.

 

Experts say a depletion of berries and nuts in the

wild has caused bears to enter residential areas in

search of food. (IHT/Asahi: December

20,2006)