Please agree to our privacy policy to enable news listening. (Central News Agency, Tokyo, 16th, comprehensive foreign news report) According to a Japanese media survey, among the 815 cities or wards (secondary administrative regions) surveyed across Japan, 685 regions have allocated funds for animal hazard countermeasures, accounting for 84% of the total. Some places use monitors equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect bears in the hope of preventing damage. “Nihon Keizai Shimbun” recently investigated the 2026 budgets prepared by 815 secondary administrative regions across Japan to understand the status of responses to wildlife hazards. Among the budgets that have been prepared, measures to prevent intrusion such as installing electrified fences, purchasing box traps and other capturing equipment, and paying hunters are the most significant. In Hokkaido and Tohoku, more than 90% of local governments have prepared relevant budgets. All interviewed municipal offices in Hokkaido have prepared relevant budgets, and local specific countermeasures against species such as bears and deer are more prominent. In order to deal with wild animals such as brown bears and Ezo deer, Sapporo City in Hokkaido has allocated approximately 218 million yen to establish an early warning mechanism using drones and other means. Muroran City and Yubari City are evaluating and formulating capture reward systems. Local governments such as Tendo City in Yamagata Prefecture and Kamo City in Niigata Prefecture have chosen an “advance deployment” approach to subsidize the felling of fruit trees that attract bears to establish buffer zones between humans and wild animals. Toyama Prefecture’s Tonami City, Ishikawa Prefecture’s Haza City and other places have decided to adopt monitors equipped with AI functions in the hope of preventing victims. Some areas have begun to make good use of AI to detect the presence of bears. The Miyagi Prefecture government, which belongs to the Tohoku region of Japan, considered the increase in bear sightings and previously issued a “bear alert” for the entire prefecture. The Sendai City Government, where the Miyagi Prefectural Government is located, has allocated 297 million yen to deal with wild birds and animals, including Asiatic black bears, and promote relevant measures to deal with bears that appear in urban areas. In addition, in order to supplement the personnel responsible for capturing wild animals, many places have expanded the recruitment of talents with hunting licenses and subsidized people to obtain hunting licenses. In Western Japan, where there are fewer cases of bear damage, the focus is mainly on preventing damage to farmland caused by wild boars, deer, and monkeys. Preliminary statistics from Japan’s Central Ministry of the Environment show that in 2025 from April 1 last year to March 31 this year, 238 people were attacked by bears in Japan, and 13 of them died. Both the number of victims and the number of deaths hit a new high. More than 60% of these cases occurred in six northeastern counties. Moreover, in the year 2026, which starts on April 1 this year, it is expected that there will be more related cases in many places in Japan than in previous years. (Compiled by: Yang Weijing) 1150516 Support Central News Agency’s choice to stand with the facts. Every donation you make is a small amount of support to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency’s “First-hand News” APP to get the latest news in real time. The text, pictures and audio and video of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.
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Animal hazard countermeasures in many places in Japan use AI to detect bear infestations | International | Central News Agency CNA
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