Japanese city suspends 94 schools after first-ever bear sighting

TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) – A municipal official said all 94 primary and secondary schools it operates were closed on Monday after the first bear sighting in Japan’s Utsunomiya city.

The city of half a million residents about 100 km (60 miles) north of Tokyo said the bear was first seen in a residential area near a park on Saturday evening. He remains at large after he was last seen about half a kilometer away from a secondary school in the early hours of Monday morning.

Bear attacks are on the rise in Japan, including in urban areas, prompting the government to create a task force to reduce casualties this year.

Last week, at least four people were injured in a bear attack in the northeastern city of Fukushima. Security footage from Fukushima Steel Works shows a black bear chasing a worker at the entrance of the factory and throwing him to the ground.

Asian black bears are listed as a vulnerable species worldwide, but their numbers are estimated to have tripled in Japan since 2012, fueled by declines in hunting.

Experts say climate change is reducing the harvest of bears’ natural foods such as acorns and beech trees, while the depopulation of rural areas and the proliferation of abandoned farmland are encouraging bears to forage near human settlements.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Kevin Buckland)