A bear that had been roaming the streets of a Japanese city for three days caused the closure of over 100 schools on Monday, as dozens of hunters and officials hunted for it.
The city government of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, has shuttered all 94 public primary and junior high schools in the area after receiving over ten reports of bear sightings since Saturday, including one in a shopping arcade.
“We have vehicles out to areas where a bear was seen to make people aware and to urge people to stay indoors or in vehicles,” a city official told AFP, adding that dozens of hunters, police and local officials have been looking for the animal.
It was unclear whether there was one or multiple bears, he said, speaking under the customary condition of anonymity.
In recent years, Japan has experienced an increase in bear sightings and assaults, particularly in metropolitan areas.
A record 13 people were murdered by bears in Japan last year, and there has been an increase in encounters as the creatures emerge ravenous from hibernation.
According to official figures, bear sightings countrywide surpassed 50,000 in the year ending in March, more than doubling the previous record set two years ago.
In Utsunomiya, a regional capital with a population of 510,000, there were just two unconfirmed bear sightings the previous year.
The bear being hunted was originally spotted Saturday morning north of the city center and was estimated to be roughly one metre (three feet) long.
A sequence of sightings occurred that day, including in a residential neighborhood, at a retail arcade on Sunday, and at a park, a high school, and a junior high.
Residents reported seeing a bear near a wholesale market on Monday morning, according to a local official.
