A mushroom picker who went to harvesting in a forest has tragically been found dead with his head ripped off after a horrific bear attack.
The man, who was reportedly in his 70s, went missing on Wednesday after going to forage for mushrooms in Iwate, Japan. Authorities launched a search operation only to find his body liefless with scratch marks all over it from a bear attack.
Following the savage bear attack, a local police officer from the northern region of Iwate said, “A man in his 70s who went missing after going into the woods to harvest mushrooms was found dead. We suspect he was attacked by a bear based on scratch marks.”
TV Iwate, a local broadcaster, reported that his torso and head had been separated, further leading authorities to believe it was a gruesome bear attack.
The news comes amidst a significant rise in bear attacks in Japan in recent years, especially increasing safety risk concerns for locals living near forested areas.
In a separate bear attack incident, another man well in his 70s was found dead in a different part of Iwate on Wednesday. Meanwhile on Saturday, the body of a 78-year-old man with multiple claw marks was found in the central prefecture of Nagano.
As per the environment ministry of Japan, this year, between April to September, there were a reported 103 individuals across Japan who suffered injuries caused by bears.
In a freak incident, an agitated bear was spotted roaming the aisles of a supermarket in Gunma in the north of Tokyo, on Tuesday. The bear ended up injuring two men and frightening countless shoppers. According to locals, even though the store is close to mountainous areas, there had never been reports of bears coming near it previously.
Last year, also in Gunma prefecture on the island of Honshu, a black bear broke into an elderly couple’s home while they were sleeping, leaving them with severe facial and head injuries.
In Akita prefecture, also on Honshu, a 64-year-old man was tragically killed whilst foraging for bamboo shoots in May. The police attempting to recover his body were attacked by the bear and forced to retreat.
Bears, typically vegetarian and insect-eating creatures, have reportedly developed a taste for meat due to the increasing deer population in Japan.
Hunting used to keep their numbers in check, but with fewer hunters now, those that remain often leave the carcasses in the mountains, providing an easy meal for the bears.
It is also believed that 2023’s heavy summer rainfall followed by a drought had an impact on the fruit harvest and insect population, which the bears rely on before hibernation. This lack of food was thought to be a potential factor behind what was driving the animals to seek sustenance elsewhere, including near human residences, where attacks have seen a rise.
Yasushi Fujimoto, the head of a hunting organisation, said: “The mountain is turning into a restaurant for bears, because of the remains left on the mountain after hunting.
“The lack of professional hunters, like park rangers in Alaska financed by the government, is a problem when it comes to controlling the number of bears.”