Maneater: bear attacks kill four in northern Japan forest, and same animal may be to blame

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Two large bears walk down the street in Shari town in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido in 2010. APhoto: AFP

Published: 2:51pm, 13 Jun 2016Updated: 2:55pm, 13 Jun 2016

People in northern Japan have been warned to stay away from mountain forests after four people were killed in a spate of bear attacks, amid a dramatic rise in the number of sightings of the animals.

Police in Akita prefecture found the body of a woman they suspect was mauled by a bear in a mountain forest at the weekend. The victim, Tsuwa Suzuki, 74, suffered injuries so horrific that local authorities were initially unable to identify her.

Suzuki, who lived in neighbouring Aomori prefecture, had gone to the area alone to pick edible wild plants, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Her death comes soon after three men – two in their seventies and one in his sixties – died from what have been described as “severe” injuries sustained in separate bear attacks in the same area last month.

A sign warns of recent bear attacks in a forest outside the northern Japan city of Kazuno, where four people have been killed. Photo: Kyodo

The men were foraging for bamboo shoots when they were attacked, Japanese media reported.

Takeshi Komatsu, a local vet, said it was possible that the four were killed by the same bear. “After tasting human flesh [for the first time], the bear may have realised that it can eat them,” Komatsu told Kyodo news agency.

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