Share to ClassroomBear Closes 94 Schools in Japan
A Japanese city has closed all 94 of its schools after a bear was seen in the city for the first time. The black bear, about one metre long, was first spotted near a park on Saturday. CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras later filmed it running past two young men in the city centre. The animal was also seen near homes and in a factory area at 4 a.m. on Monday. The city, 100 km north of Tokyo, has about half a million people. Officials told residents to lock doors and stay inside if they see the bear.
Japan has had about 50,000 bear sightings this year, mostly in the north-east. Bears near Tokyo are rare but are becoming more common. Last week, a bear in Fukushima attacked four people and entered an office before escaping. Experts say acorns, the bears' main food, did not grow well this year. So the animals come into towns to find food.
Bear attacks in Japan have risen sharply in recent years. Deaths and injuries hit a record high in the year to March. Some local governments are testing CCTV cameras linked to artificial intelligence (AI) systems that follow animal movements. About 12,000 to 42,000 Asiatic black bears live on Honshu, Japan's main island, while about 12,000 larger brown bears live on Hokkaido.
