Two people attacked by bear in Niigata

Don't kill the bear! Japanese bears are not big enough for a carpet anyways...

Why not? It attacked us, and now we attack it. That's how us humans work. Take that, bears!

Geez, yet another bear attack. If it's not stabbings or suicides, it's darned bear attacks.

It attacked us, and now we attack it.

Read the article - the old lady was collecting nuts in the forest. Would you take kindly to someone walking into your house and raiding your larder? After having dealt with the old lady in his larder, the bear was probably feeling pretty narky by the time it came across Mr. Ishida wandering around in his back yard.

I hope the two people recover quickly with no lasting damage, and I hope they've learned to stay out of the woods and to stop stealing from bears.

I hope the 'local hunter groups' get soaked to the skin (wouldn't lose any sleep if a few of them shot themselves in the foot) and that the bear stays safe.

Sheesh - what's the world coming to when you get gangs of hunters on your tail just for trying to protect your nuts?

Sorry you didn't get my sarcasm

No worries, pro. Everyone wants to keep their nuts safe. :-)

I wonder if she tried to got too close to the baby bear nearby. Bears almost exclusively attack to defend their young or if they are surprised.

Anyone know whether it's been a good year for nuts?

Well, that's the end of that bear and very soon its whole species will be gone the way of the dodo. - Why aren't the people who live in these areas educated in how to protect themselves from bears? If they take a large pot and a wooden spoon to beat it with the bears will run off although, I guess there will always be rogues that have been harassed by people thus giving them a good reason to hate humans.

I'd be mad if an old lady was after my nuts too

Local hunter groups have been mobilized to find the bear.

In other words, a posse.

My friend's friend just survived a mauling by a grizzly in Wyoming. It was bow hunting season so they were not allowed to carry a gun. By a miracle, his father's arrow found the grizzly's heart. It was a shot in the back.

The bear ignored the rules that they are not allowed to attack people who invade their territory, they will be found and punished

Yeah, they won't think about stunning it and moving it deeper into the woods. They'll kill it for sure because that's how their mentality works!

Police said the bear is about 1.6 meters tall.

Yeah great. How about giving me the stats that count. What's it's star sign and blood type?

Local hunter groups have been mobilized to find the bear.

Bring out the stealth bomber.

I wonder if they were wearing bear bells? These old coots could help themselves by a) wearing bear bells and b) carrying bear spray like they do in the States and Canada.

People act like there's something magical about bells. Just talk and make some noise when you're in the bush and you'll never see a bear. It's worked for me here in Hokkaido, the bear capital of Japan.

I always wear my iPod when I'm in the woods. Haven't seen a bear yet. Gosh darn it.

"The bear attacked Hatsui Toda, 75, when she was collecting nuts in the forest"

Hey, the bear was just protecting his nuts! No, wait, bears don't eat nuts, they eat honey and salmon and picnic baskets! Squirrels eat nuts! OK, the bear was protecting the squirrels' nuts!

I think they are going after the bear because after wild animlas realize that humans don't put up much a fight, they tend to attack them more and more, since they (humans) do provde a good deal of meat. It's not like an angry torch carrying bear lynch mob are out running around. This bear now poses a serious threat to other people. If fools would only respect nature when they go off their paved streets, stuff like this wouldnt' happen.

giant enemy bear

I live in Niigata, and this morning's paper (Niigata Nippou) reported it as probably 2 different bears--one was reported to be a meter, the other reported to be 1.6 meters. Has the story changed since then?

Nessie--from what I've read in Niigata, it's an average year for nuts, not like 2 years ago when the beech nut shortage brought bears down out of the mountains just before hibernation, causing all kinds of problems. I don't know what the situation up in Hokkaido is this year.

Nessie - So far you've just been lucky. If you stay in Hokkaido, eventually you're going to get eaten by a bear. Why do you think there's so few people up there? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

Well, that's the end of that bear and very soon its whole species will >be gone the way of the dodo.

Bears aren't an endangered species in Japan, or many other places for that matter. Gold medal for conclusion jumping.

ossanULTRA: where do you get your opinions from? in your sleep most likely. try this for some facts http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/life/endangered-species/dn12904-more-bear-species-threatened-with-extinction.html

Thanks, Jose. If you don't see me posting this winter, it'll answer our question about the nut situation in Hokkaido. ;)

As for endangerment, it's my understanding the brown bears up here in Hokkaido are protected, but not threatened or endangered -- actually increasing in population.

According to spudman's link most of the bears on the list are classified as "vulnerable" or "least concern", and the only species classified as "endangered" is the giant panda.

Stuffed bears are generally docile if stuffed with cotton. Those stuffed with humans obviously are not. Try not to become the stuff of bears.

If you bear-baiting in the forest you will eventually become scat. That ain't phat.

About 3000 bears are legally shot in Japan annually where they are often considered a pest. Unlike the crane, Japanese Macqaque, river otter and eagle, neither black bears or brown bears are listed as endangered in Japan. Those who actually believe black bears are endangered are usually the ones that either have polar bears (which actually are arguably endangered) confused with black bears, or are toting the line used by the anti-poaching crowd, which I am also personally against.

9 years in Niigata and I had no idea there were bears there. Probably because I never went to raid their larder :-) I always said the countryside was dangerous....

Jose, whereabouts in Niigata are you?

Those who actually believe black bears are endangered are usually the ones that either have polar bears (which actually are arguably endangered) confused with black bears, or are toting the line used by the anti-poaching crowd, which I am also personally against.

So you're pro-poaching, Ossan?

Whether black bears as a whole are endangered or not is a different topic. This bear who had his nuts tampered with is endangered - as is probably any other living creature, 4-legged or 2-legged, that wanders into the wood while the intrepid 'local hunter groups' are enjoying their pot-shot party.

You gotta be nuts to mess with a bear's nuts.

Those who actually believe black bears are endangered are usually the >ones that either have polar bears (which actually are arguably >endangered) confused with black bears, or are toting the line used by >the anti-poaching crowd, which I am also personally against.

So you're pro-poaching, Ossan?

No I am against the poaching. I don't know any legitimate hunter who isn't.