Brown bear attacks, injures hunter after being shot | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
4/27/2026
A wild brown bear has attacked and injured a hunter after being shot in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido. The animal was later put down by other hunters.
Police say a man called emergency services Sunday afternoon to report that a fellow hunter had been injured in a bear attack in Shimamaki Village. The victim, who is in his 60s, was bleeding from the head and face. He was taken to a hospital and is reportedly conscious.
Five members of a local hunters’ group had gone into the mountains to cull brown bears emerging from hibernation. The bears are native to Hokkaido.
One member, Hanada Yuji, said he fired upon and hit a bear the hunters spotted about 150 meters away.
But he said the bear survived and rolled down a slope growling. He said that when the hunter in his 60s approached and shot the bear, it turned on him biting and scratching him.
Hanada said the bear was a large adult weighing nearly 300 kilograms, and that the hunters had to fire many shots to put it down.
He said it was the first time in more than 20 years of hunting that he had witnessed a bear attack. He expressed hope that the injured man will recover soon.