“I found a bear with its head buried in the kotatsu”: when he came home from work, he discovered the wild animal in his living room

A man living in the Japanese countryside was surprised to discover a bear huddled in his living room, local media reported on Tuesday, December 24, as the government prepares to relax laws on the slaughter of these animals.

The intruder had taken up residence under a kotatsu, a low table surrounded by a blanket and equipped with a heater, very common in Japanese interiors.

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“I came home from work and found a bear with its head buried in the kotatsu,” the man residing in Fukushima department, in the northeast of the archipelago, said according to media reports. The bear was approximately 90 centimeters long.

Surprised, this man aged around sixty, who lives alone, took refuge with a neighbor and telephoned the police before returning more than an hour later, finding the bear still there and his scattered food.

“Emergency culls”

Police asked nearby residents to evacuate or lock their doors, according to Kyodo news agency. No injuries were reported.

The incident is the latest in a series of encounters between humans and bears in recent years that have prompted the Japanese government to consider easing restrictions on the killing of the animals. The plan, which is expected to come into effect next year, will give local authorities the power to authorize hunters to carry out “emergency culls” even in the most populated areas.

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Hungry bears move closer to villages and towns

Experts say the dwindling human population in rural areas of Japan is pushing hungry bears closer to villages and towns. Among other factors, climate change affects the food supply of omnivores and their hibernation periods.

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The country recorded a record six human deaths linked to bear attacks, and more than 9,000 bears killed in a 12-month period through last March. In early December, a bear ravaged a supermarket in northern Japan for two days before finally being captured using a honey trap. He had injured a 47-year-old man in the head.