(MENAFN- Live Mint) Japan's Defense Ministry has deployed troops in the northern prefecture of Akita, as pre reports. Not due to security threats, but to help tackle a surge in bear attacks that has seen 13 deaths across the nation since April.

Bear sightings have increased in Japan. Multiple videos circulating on social media, also showed a bear charging toward a moving car, with the driver accelerating in panic as the four-legged animal continued to chase it down the road. Netizens claim the incident happened in Japan's Hokkaido.

Apart from the 13 deaths,100 other people have been injured after encounters with brown bears and Asisatic black bears in Akita, as per multiple reports.

As per AFP, the number of fatalities from bear attacks is double the previous record of 2023-24, with five months of the fiscal year still to go.

'...living inside safari park'

Bear sightings have reportedly become almost a daily occurrence in the mountainous regions, with the creatures being spotted near schools, train stations, supermarkets and resorts.

Hajime Nakae, professor of emergency and critical medicine at the Akita University Hospital, said the frequent bear sightings made him feel like he was "living inside... a safari park for bears".

How Japan is tackling the bear attacks?

On Wednesday, 5 November, Japanese troops began an operation which involves them setting box traps, assisting local hunters with transport and helping dispose of dead bears.

A staff member sorts bells next to an advertisement for bear spray at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture on October 24, 2025. Since April a record 13 people have been killed by bears across the country, with incidents reported on an almost daily basis of the animals entering homes, roaming near schools and rampaging in supermarkets. The government is scrambling to deal with the surge in maulings, which scientists say is being driven by a fast-growing bear population combined with this year's bad acorn harvest, leaving some mountains 'overcrowded' with hungry bears. (Photo by Caroline GARDIN / AFP) / To go with AFP story Japan-bear-environment-climate-demographics, REPORTAGE by Hiroshi Hiyama and Caroline Gardin

They have been instructed not to open fire on the animals, mentioned a report by Independent.

Why the rise in bear attacks?

Experts say a booming bear population and a changing climate is driving the rise in bear sightings, and the attacks. Owing to warmer weather and plentiful food sources - like acorns, deer, and wild boars - bears are thriving and multiplying rapidly, reported AFP.

In just three decades, Japan's brown bear population has nearly doubled to around 12,000, while Asian black bears on the main island of Honshu have climbed to roughly 42,000, according to a recent government report.

Some mountain regions are now“overcrowded,” said Naoki Ohnishi, a researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.

“Put simply, the size of the bear population has gone beyond the capacity of the mountains to hold them,” AFP quoted the researcher as saying.

What eye-witnesses say

It's becoming something that feels personal, and it's simply frightening.

"We hear news almost every day about people being attacked or injured," said Kakeru Matsuhashi – a traditional "Matagi" hunter – who is 28-years-old.

"It's becoming something that feels personal, and it's simply frightening," he told AFP.

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