TOCHIGI - A bear that had been repeatedly spotted in commercial and residential areas of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, was captured in a residential neighborhood at around 3:30 p.m. on June 9th after authorities used a tranquilizer gun, but the city remains on alert because police say they cannot rule out the possibility that another bear may still be roaming the area.
The bear, believed to be an adult male weighing about 100 kilograms, was captured after four days of sightings across the city, including shopping districts, residential neighborhoods, the grounds of a junior high school, and areas near Utsunomiya University.
Footage filmed by JNN shortly after 1 p.m. showed the bear climbing a fence in a residential area. The animal was also seen calmly swimming in a small river or drainage channel before scaling another fence and entering the grounds of a private home.
Bear sightings have been reported repeatedly across Utsunomiya since June 6th. The situation intensified on the night of June 8th when police responded to reports of a bear in a wooded area on the grounds of Yonan Junior High School in the southern part of the city.
Authorities restricted nearby roads and attempted to contain the animal, but it managed to leave the school grounds and disappeared into the darkness.
By the morning of June 9th, sightings resumed. A security camera at an auto repair shop captured footage of the bear at around 4:30 a.m., and police later increased patrols after reports emerged from several locations, including the campus of Utsunomiya University, more than three kilometers from the junior high school where the bear had been seen the previous night.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the bear appeared in a parking lot roughly 1 kilometer south of an earlier sighting. Large footprints believed to belong to the animal were found nearby. Workers at a business in the area said they narrowly avoided an encounter, noting that an employee had entered the office only about five minutes before the bear ran through the property.
JNN cameras then captured the animal again in a residential district about two kilometers south of Utsunomiya Station. Residents watched the unusual sight of the bear swimming through a narrow waterway in the middle of the city before climbing a fence and entering a residential property.
A man who lives near the property said the bear appeared to have climbed up from the waterway, leaving trampled grass behind. He said he knew bears could appear in mountainous areas but had never expected one to emerge in the middle of the city.
Tetsuya Maruyama, a section chief at Tochigi Prefecture's Natural Environment Division, said the animal appeared to be an adult bear and may have been using the river corridor to move through the city while avoiding people.
"Since rivers are places where people are less likely to notice them, it may have been moving along these routes. With many people surrounding the area, it was probably looking for somewhere to escape," Maruyama said.
Police officers, city officials, and members of a local hunting association later surrounded a house where the bear had entered. Officers carrying shields moved into the property, while others monitored the area from nearby structures. Aerial footage shortly after 3 p.m. showed the animal moving beneath the eaves of a building.
Permission to use a tranquilizer gun was granted, and the first dart was fired at around 2:30 p.m. A second shot followed about 20 minutes later, but both missed. A third dart was fired at around 3:30 p.m. and struck the bear.
Within minutes, the tranquilizer began to take effect and the animal's movements slowed. Police officers and hunters approached cautiously before the bear collapsed. It was then dragged from the property, loaded onto the back of a truck, and removed from the scene.
The tranquilizer gun was operated by a staff member from a local zoo, who described the capture as a difficult mission. The shooter said he was only about five meters from the bear but had little room to aim because grass obscured much of the animal.
"There was grass in front of it and only a small target area was visible, so I had to rely on instinct," the zoo employee said. "My instincts were wrong on the first two shots."
The successful dart was the third and final attempt.
"I wanted to aim for its rear, but it was facing me, so the chest was the only option," the employee said.
The zoo staff member said the bear's body was more solid than he had expected and that he felt both tense and frightened during the operation.
Residents expressed relief after the capture but said their anxiety has not disappeared. One resident living next to the property where the bear was tranquilized said he was frightened as he watched the operation unfold nearby.
"I was relieved when I heard it had been caught," another local resident said.
Some residents said they remain worried because the bear captured on June 9th appeared larger than the animal first reported several days earlier, raising fears that there may be more than one bear in the city.
Police and city officials said the possibility of another bear cannot be dismissed because sightings have been reported in several areas and descriptions of the animal have varied. Utsunomiya City said police, hunters, and municipal officials will continue patrols and monitoring for about three more days.
The alert has also affected daily life across the city. Some convenience stores and other businesses have continued taking precautions, including switching automatic doors to manual operation to prevent a bear from entering.
Utsunomiya City announced that all municipal elementary and junior high schools would remain temporarily closed the following day as a safety measure. The closures mean some children have been unable to attend school or play outside for several days.
Residents said many people spent much of the day confined to their homes, relying on police announcements and television reports to understand what was happening outside. Some children told reporters they wanted to return to school and go back to playing in parks, while parents said they were trying to balance their children's frustration with the need to keep them safe.
The capture site was in the middle of a densely populated residential neighborhood, leaving residents shocked that a wild bear had reached such an urban area. Authorities said patrols will continue until they are confident there is no further danger and the city can return to normal.
Previously: Bear Spotted Running Through Central Utsunomiya Shopping District
Source: TBS
