13,670 bear sightings reported in Japan in April-Sept period

When humans encroach on the wild, something has to give, and typically it's the animals that sadly suffer the most. Kind of hard to lay any blame on the bears as they are just trying to survive.

Poor bears, but obviously the solution would be some kind of seeding/reforestation program.

Not much of a surprise considering that’s where they live.

I've seen half a dozen this year already in Yamanashi & Shizuoka, I hadn't seen that many in the previous decade. I think a couple of warm winters may have helped numbers increase, plus the Covid / lack of decent nuts thing.

The sighting reports are probably from dozens of people reporting the same bear over multiple occassions. No need to try and inflate the numbers. There are just not that many bears left in Japan, unfortunately.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/plea-to-improve-habitat-after-spate-of-bear-attacks-in-japan

The sighting reports are probably from dozens of people reporting the same bear over multiple occassions.

This makes no sense unless in previous years bear sightings were only recorded for different bears, which would be impossible.

No need to try and inflate the numbers.

Why would the Environment Ministry wish to do that?

...obviously the solution would be some kind of seeding/reforestation program.

Right. A huge problem is that natural forests which provide the type of forage bears need have been clearcut and replaced by cedar plantations, which provide no food for any animal. They are eerily silent.

One solution that ought to be tried might be to ban the collection of 山菜 (mountain vegetables) which I love to eat, but would be willing to forego for the sake of encouraging the bears to stay sated in their mountain homes and shun human contact.

Right. A huge problem is that natural forests which provide the type of forage bears need have been clearcut and replaced by cedar plantations, which provide no food for any animal. They are eerily silent.

The hunters here call that a “緑の砂漠砂漠” or “green desert.”

One solution that ought to be tried might be to ban the collection of 山菜 (mountain vegetables)

That is a good idea, the seasonal pillage has been worse than usual this year I've noticed. No doubt they are making up for summer when there were slim pickings in the forest due to that baking, dry August. Quite a lot of dead mature trees around here too, seems that month really did some damage.

No chance of it happening though, there'd be a million K-truck drivers torching their local village offices.

I doubt this is increased human encroachment in an aging and depopulating countryside.

The estimated number of bears in Japan is said to be 16,000 to 26,000. That's a very wide range, suggesting that no definitive work has been done and nobody knows how many there are.

The other one to remember, which many people don't, is that both wild deer and boar have expanding populations in Japan. I understand that this goes against everything you might normally assume about the state of nature in the modern world or in Japan itself, but that's the way it is. There are so many deer that people have talked about reintroducing wolves to eat them. If the forests are supporting expanding numbers of deer and boar, I would not assume that they must have suffered some kind of collapse and stopped producing food for bears. Bears are very unfussy eaters.

reforestation and designation of park status the only way to stop the encroachments

I can't bear to read this. : - )