Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a bill that would allow hunters to shoot bears in populated areas at their own discretion after human encounters with the wild animals hit record levels.
Across the nation, 219 people were attacked by bears in the 12 months to April last year, with six human fatalities — the highest since statistics began nearly two decades ago.
Climate change affecting bear food sources and hibernation times, along with depopulation caused by an aging society, are causing the animals to venture into towns more frequently.
Photo: Reuters
The revised wildlife protection and management law would allow “emergency shootings” following complaints that hunters have been hampered by red tape.
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment hopes to present the bill to parliament in the coming months and get it enacted before autumn, when bear sightings typically surge, said a ministry official, who declined to be named.
Currently, shooting animals such as bears or wild boar in residential areas is forbidden.
Even when bears hole themselves up in populated areas, hunters are not allowed to shoot without being given the green light by police.
Even then, police “can only issue such a command in an extremely dire situation, such as when a person is seconds away from being attacked,” the ministry official said.
Under current rules, “you would have to wait until someone is actually in danger to get police approval,” he said.
A bear in December last year rampaged through a supermarket in northern Japan for two days before being lured out with food coated in honey.
It wounded a 47-year-old man before shoppers were evacuated and the bear laid waste to the meat department.
More than 9,000 bears were killed in Japan in the 12 months to April last year.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS