‘We're in a stalemate': Bear evades capture on airport runway as flights cancelled
Video clips have captured a black bear roaming across Yamagata Airport's runway on Thursday, while an airport vehicle followed the bear in pursuit.
The bear caused initial disruption earlier that day, first appearing around 7am, resulting in flight delays and the closure of its runway.
The animal then reappeared at noon as staff used a car to chase it away, causing a second runway closure.
"Given the situation, there is no way we can host plane arrivals now," Yamagata Airport official Akira Nagai told AFP, adding the second closure led to 12 flight cancellations.
Domestic flights arriving from and departing to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Sapporo were all cancelled between midday and 6.30pm on Thursday, data from FlightRadar shows.
Hunters set up traps to capture the bear, and police officers stationed themselves outside the airport to prevent it from escaping.
"We're in a stalemate now", Nagai added, saying that the airport planned to keep the runway closed into the evening.
By Friday morning, flights were arriving and departing as usual, indicating that the bear had likely been removed from the runway.
Scientists say that climate change is affecting food sources and hibernation times, causing bears to venture into towns and populated spaces more frequently.
It is not the first time an animal has disrupted flights and airport operations by sneaking onto a runways.
A huge alligator wandered across the runway of an airport in Florida back in October.
Witnesses estimated that the reptile measured 10ft in length as it waddled over the tarmac at Orlando Executive Airport.
An airport worker was filmed trying to shoo the animal away as it walked close to an aircraft.
Meanwhile, Dublin Airport has been known to deal with a spate of bird and hare strikes, as the wildlife live near the runway and can often hit an aircraft.
In 2018, a much larger animal found its way onto the runway at Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India – a stray cow caused two flights to abort their landings.
Yet it can be the tiniest of creatures that can cause the most trouble of all, such as when mouse caused a power outage at one of Europe's busiest airports in 2024.
Part of Frankfurt Airport's power supply was cut for several hours when the tiny dormouse caused a short-circuit in an electricity substation.
The little rodent caused hundreds of passengers to miss their journeys as eleven flights were cancelled as a result.
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