Brown bear attacks, drags hiker into forest in Japan

A young hiker is missing after a wild brown bear mauled him and dragged him deep into the forest on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, police and local media said Friday.

The man, believed to be in his 20s, was walking a mountain trail on Mount Rausu Thursday morning when the bear struck, The Guardian and other multiple media sources report.

Witness accounts and media reports say he fought desperately to fend off the large animal, but it overpowered him, pulling him into nearby woods as blood poured from his legs.

A day later, police and rescue teams found grim evidence of the encounter: a wallet and ID card bearing his name, a shredded bloodstained shirt, and personal items including a watch, hat, and what appeared to be tear gas.

Trees and soil nearby were spattered with blood.

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Brown bear encounters are not uncommon in Hokkaido, but the attack comes amid a shift in the island’s bear population.

Government data shows numbers fell in 2023 for the first time in over three decades, from 12,100 to around 11,600, following record culls—more than 1,800 bears were killed between April 2023 and March 2024.

Rescue operations continue as police scour the dense, bear-inhabited forest. The hiker has yet to be found.