An 'extremely intelligent' bear evades capture in Fukushima after opening a window, leaving four injured

Police, hunters, and local officials in Fukushima, Japan, are searching for a bear that injured four people across two factories on Tuesday before evading capture in a way that has surprised authorities. The animal was filmed on CCTV attacking an employee in a car park, then fled into an office building where it attacked another man. After injuring two more people, it entered an electronics factory.

The escape

Workers inside the Oki Sympho-Tech Co factory saw the bear use its front paws to turn on a tap and drink water. Officials set four cage traps at the entrance and deployed personnel with tranquilliser guns. A police officer spotted the bear climbing over a gate shortly before 11pm on Wednesday. A subsequent search found that a protective net on a window had been torn and the locking mechanism appeared to have been manipulated. Scratch marks were visible near the lock.

This bear was seen turning on a faucet to drink water and appeared capable of opening a locked window by itself. I believe it was an extremely intelligent bear.

The attacks

The bear first entered the Fukushima Steel Works Co site in the Sasakino area around 6:30am on Tuesday. It attacked two employees, then injured a person in a nearby residence and a fourth victim at the electronics factory. The four injured people, men and women aged between 20 and 80, suffered injuries including facial bone fractures. One person was seriously hurt; the other three sustained lighter injuries.

Failed capture attempts

An attempt to immobilise the bear with a tranquilliser dart failed. Fukushima city officials later confirmed the anaesthetic did not take effect, though it was unclear why. Food traps baited with fruit and honey also proved ineffective, as the bear managed to eat the bait without triggering the traps. Authorities tried turning off the lights on Wednesday night to lure the bear into the traps, but it escaped through the window instead. Shooting measures had been authorised, but police refrained from using regular firearms because flammable materials were stored inside the factory.

It's not that we neglected our response efforts, but we are left with regret.

Rising bear encounters in Japan

A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan last year. In the fiscal year ending in March, nationwide bear sightings exceeded 50,000, more than double the previous record set two years earlier. Experts attribute the increase to a rapidly growing bear population, the depopulation of rural areas, and climate warming that has boosted food sources such as acorns, deer, and wild boar. Japan's strict gun laws were recently amended to allow firearms to be discharged in residential areas during emergencies, though this provision was not used in the current case.

The ongoing search

An expanded search involving local government officers, police, hunters, and drones was launched on Thursday. Local schools switched to online classes for the day as a precaution, reopening on Friday with extra security measures including locking all ground-floor doors and windows. As of Friday morning, the bear remains at large.

The bear was in an agitated state, creating an extremely difficult situation where we had to proceed with caution while monitoring its condition. The city will continue to work in coordination with relevant agencies and do our utmost to ensure safety.