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83-year-old man dies after suspected bear attack

16 Comments

A 83-year-old man was found dead on a mountain forest road in Nagiso, Nagano Prefecture, on Saturday morning after apparently being attacked by a bear.

Police said Kunio Yokota had gone jogging but when he did not return, his 78-year-old wife went looking for him and found him lying on the road at around 8:30 a.m., Fuji TV reported. Police said Yokota had several bruises on his body and a bite mark to his neck, consistent with that of a bear. 

Yokota was taken to hospital where his death was confirmed due to loss of blood.

His wife told police that her husband went out for a short jog each morning and always took the same route.

Police said they have increased patrols and warned local residents to be on the lookout for any bears. They said that since April, there have been six reported bear sightings in the area.

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16 Comments
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83 old man killed by bear whilst out jogging. It’s a very Japanese story. RIP to the old fella.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

RIP

I hope if I get to 83 that I still have the energy for a daily jog.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

I hope they don’t go after the bear.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I was hoping this story was going to say Hokkaido where the bears are much bigger. A bite on the neck is pretty vicious for a bear. Normally they just rough you up. I run on trails in the woods myself once a week, bear bell in hand. Poor bloke. RIP.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Nice country area that I really like going to but you obviously have to keep your eyes peeled for dangers. RIP.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I was not aware that there were bears large enough to be dangerous in Japan.

As a teenager, I was awakened by a bear that grabbed my feet and started dragging me, while sleeping in a sleeping bag in Yellowstone Park. I yelled really loudly, squeezed out of the sleeping bag like I was toothpaste in a tube, and the bear went away temporarily. Tried to go back to sleep in a buttoned up car, but the bear came back, but its paws on the roof, and started rocking the car. Don't ask why I didn't just drive away.....hindsight is 20 20, as they say. The bear finally went away, and I was able to sleep until morning. I have often wondered if the bear was hungry or just lonely. But, Yellowstone has grizzly bears, which are known to be man eaters.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I'd love being able to jog on trails at 83!

The color of the fur doesn't denote the species. There are "brown" bears that are actually black bear species. The head shape and snout are different - and attitude.

Black bears can get pretty big. Jogging alone in bear country requires taking some steps like being noisy so the bears hear us and aren't surprised, especially if new cubs are around. People who live in bear country and never have a close encounter sometimes forget this.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

As a teenager, I was awakened by a bear that grabbed my feet and started dragging me, while sleeping in a sleeping bag in Yellowstone Park.

You're kidding, right? That must have been terrifying. I've crossed paths with several bears in Japan, but to be dragged away by the heels by one in the night would probably turn me into an indoor type.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

You'll never believe this, but I was once warned off hiking around this area at nighttime by the locals, due to the possibility of a bear attack!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hi ClippetyClop,

oh, it is true, alright. When I look back at all the things I have lived through, it amazes even me. That was the last time that I slept outdoors in bear country. I got lucky once, no use in tempting fate.

One time before that incident we were camped in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and had a bear encounter. We had a cured ham inside a metal cooler in the campground. As we drove back to the campground, we saw a mother bear with her two cubs checking things out. We watched as she sniffed the cooler. With one swipe of her paw she knocked the metal lid off of its hinges, reached in with her snout, grabbed the ham, and then slowly waddled back up the mountain from whence she came, followed by her two cubs. We stayed in the car until she was out of sight. We settled for eating trout that night. That one was probably a black bear, as they don't have grizzleys there, unlike Yellowstone.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

One of our daughters used to live in Mission Viejo, here in Southern Cal. About a mile from where she lived a man was attacked and killed by a mountain lion while on a hiking trail.

Where we live a lot of coyotes have been seen. Once in a while, though rarely, they will attack children. There was an article in the local paper about a 12-year-old girl who had to fight off a pack of three coyotes who surrounded her. Usually they just attack dogs and cats. We have some skunks who have taken up residence in the neighborhood. They are, admittedly, quite odoriferous, but on the plus side they seem to keep the coyotes away. I think they don't usually bother people, as long as they are not cornered, and not sick with rabies.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I was walking my little dog near a mountain here in Japan late one night. I had a flashlight but wasn't using is as there were some street lights on one side of me and a dark mountainside on the other. While my dog was sniffing around, I heard the bushes moving around and some low growls. Thinking it was a wild dog, I shone my flashlight on the area of the darkness where it seemed to come from. I expected that whatever it was would take off running because of the light, but it didn't. It became angrier and growled loudly at me and began moving about more judging by the noises among the bushes. My little dog, old and deaf, noticed none of this, and I turned off the flashlight and started walking back the way I had come with my eyes on the mountainside above me. And whatever it was sounded like it was moving alongside me, albeit on the dark mountainside to my side and above me, but it stopped after about 20 meters or so. Phew! I told some Japanese in my area about it, and they told me it was probably a wild pig, but wouldn't a wild pig oink-oink instead of growl I asked. And they told me that wild pigs did indeed growl, but I've never heard a pig growl before and still wonder if it was one of those moon bears.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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