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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
Chapter 2: What happened with the intelligent bear in Fukushima?
Police and hunters in Fukushima in Japan are searching for an extremely intelligent bear that apparently evaded capture by unlocking a window all by himself or herself from the inside. Jay Allen is with us, publisher with Unseen Japan. Hello, Jay.
Hello, Clare. Thanks for having me on tonight.
I'm delighted to have you. And tell me about this bear described as extremely intelligent. Why?
Yeah, that's the first thing I've seen in the Western press.
Chapter 3: Why was the bear described as extremely intelligent?
Not so much in the Japanese press, but it does seem pretty smart. The incident started in a company car park where what appeared to be a wild bear was caught on CCTV cameras mauling an employee. A passerby drove by with a car and scared it off. But then the bear ran inside to a building, attacked a second man, and it hurt another two people before holing up in a factory. This was on a Wednesday.
Chapter 4: How did the bear escape after being tranquilized?
It caused a mix of serious and minor injuries. And as of today, Friday, it is still on the loose.
OK, and they did they did get him with a tranquilizer dart, but it had no impact.
They did get him with a tranquilizer dart. The officials here in Japan and in Fukushima admit they don't really know why the dart didn't take effect. Other wildlife experts say these failures are fairly common. A dart like that has to stay embedded in a second or two to inject the full dose.
So if it was a glancing hit or the bear's a really thick furred bear, it could mean that barely any got in. There also, this bear holed up in a factory. So there's a lot of residents to use rifles because they were surrounded by flammable material.
OK, so this bear then managed to open the window in the factory and escaped. It was also seen drinking from a tap. So we've got to assume that it was able to switch that, turn the tap on by itself unless it was running. We don't know that, but let's continue with the theory that this is a clever bear.
But it's one of many causing problems in Japan because bear attacks have been on the rise, haven't they?
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Chapter 5: What are the reasons for the rise in bear attacks in Japan?
They have, yes. In this year up until March, there's actually been a record 13 people killed in Japan. And there's been another 238 serious attacks. That's also a record. And the number of sightings have roughly doubled in two years. So if we ask why that's happening, the causes are generally human made. I know a lot of people probably know already that Japan is experiencing depopulation.
but that population is even more marked in rural areas like Fukushima, for example, because a lot more young people these days are seeking economic opportunity in the larger cities like Tokyo and Osaka. There's a lot more abandoned land, and that basically encourages the bears to give them more room to roam, so they go up more to the forest edge a lot.
There's far fewer hunters than there used to be as the old population of hunters dies out, a new generation isn't replacing them. And there's some environmental factors as well. So poor nut harvests have been linked to climate change and those push hungry bears further and further into town.
There was an incident last year in the Occupy Prefecture where a bear actually holed up in a department store for about 48 hours or so before they managed to get it out.
OK, and people are upset when the bears are shot, aren't they?
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Chapter 6: What changes have been made to bear hunting laws in Japan?
That causes problems because people think that that is the wrong solution to this problem.
There can be, yes. So as a lot of people probably know, Japan has some of the strictest gun laws on Earth. And up until recently, hundreds were even just banned from firing in built up areas without a police sign off. Japan changed that law. So there is a new emergency emergency shooting law that took effect last September. Local governments can't authorize hunters to shoot a bear on the spot.
But like I said, that happened in Akita in the
the super the department store supermarket occupation uh they tried to get the bear out through peaceful means and they ended up shooting and killing it and then the local government was flooded with over 100 complaints uh the governor of occupant prefecture actually got so upset over the complaints that he threatened to send bears to people's houses if they kept calling my goodness
Chapter 7: Where is the bear now and what precautions are being taken?
So this bear, the smart bear, as we're calling him, who managed to open the window and perhaps turn on the tap as well. Does anyone know where this bear is?
Nobody knows where the bear is right now. Schools were closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure. They have reopened, though many of the schools are keeping their doors and windows locked. So people are still kind of on high alert. No one knows if the bear is still in populated areas or if it's gone back to the wild, the hunt continuously.
OK, now I know you said it was Western media who dubbed him smart, but it was the city mayor who started it because he said, I believe it was an extremely intelligent bear. So it is caught on here in the West. Jay, thank you very much for joining us. One of our listeners says, how are you missing the obvious smarter than the average bear pun? Well, you've done it now. I can't do it now.
You've done it, haven't you? Get in touch 087 1400 106. The Clare Byrne Show. With Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at 9. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.