01-08-2025
Wild bear encounters continue in Japan
An apparent bear attack has left a 73-year-old woman injured in the head and face in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
The woman was found collapsed and bleeding outside a group home for people with disabilities in Kitaakita City late on Thursday. She is a resident of the facility.
Police say the woman was unconscious when she was taken to hospital. They believe she was attacked by a bear, judging from her injuries.
A security camera at the group home reportedly shows the woman walking outside the entrance, before being attacked head-on by a meter-long animal, apparently a bear.
In Fukushima City, a newspaper delivery man on a motorcycle collided with a bear that jumped out of the roadside early on Friday.
The motorcycle was toppled by the impact, and the man in his 30s suffered scratches to his arms and knees.
Police say the bear was about one-meter long, and ran into the woods after the collision. The road runs along a river in a farming district.
Since June, there has been a series of wild bear sighting in Fukushima City, even near urban areas.
