Ninja Bear (Stealthy Pest; Hokkaido Prefecture; Japan)

[EnolaGaia]

This large predatory bear has been killing cows in Hokkaido Prefecture for circa 3 years. Authorities can't intercept it because this bear is unusually adept at avoiding surveillance and other security measures.

Giant “Ninja Bear” has been attacking dairy farms in Hokkaido for three years

Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido is home to much of the country’s bear population. But while there are a lot of bears in Hokkaido, only one of them is known as the “Ninja Bear.”

No one has ever seen the Ninja Bear directly, but images of the stealthy animal were captured on security footage in the town of Shibecha this past July, as shown in the video below at the 7 and 12-second marks. This was the first time the bear had been seen since 2019, when it was also seen on security camera footage in the town (as shown at the 26-second mark). ...

... Based on paw tracks, DNA samples from fur and droppings, and attack methodology, the Ninja Bear is suspected of roughly 60 attacks on dairy cows at farms in Shibecha and the neighboring town of Akkeshi.

The Ninja Bear is also known as Oso 18, a reference to its initial on-camera sighting ... in Shibecha’s Ososhibetsu district and the fact that its front paw tracks measure 18 centimeters (7.1 inches) across. That makes it an especially large bear for Japan, with experts estimating its weight is about 300 kilograms (661 pounds). ...

60 bear attacks on livestock in the course of three years in two small towns is an exceptionally high number ... In an average year, the rest of Hokkaido as a whole sees only about a dozen or so such incidents ...

... [0]rdinarily a bear that makes a kill larger than what it can eat at one feeding will remain in the area until it gets hungry again. The Ninja Bear, though, often eats just a portion of the cows it kills and then disappears back into the forest, only for its next attack to take place in a different part of the two-town area. ...

The Ninja Bear is also suspected to be adept at walking in rivers so as not to leave tracks, and in an attack that took place in July appears to have known to dig a hole in the soil to slip underneath an electrified fence. Its unpredictable movement has frustrated hunters’ animal-control efforts, and at least one dairy farm has deployed one of Japan’s robot Monster Wolves as a precaution. ...

FULL STORY: https://soranews24.com/2022/09/14/g...king-dairy-farms-in-hokkaido-for-three-years/

 

[ramonmercado]

More on the Robot-Wolves. Vid at link.

With gleaming red eyes, bone-chilling howls and bared fangs, animals scatter for cover at the sight of this beast.

But this is no ordinary wolf - or even a real one.

Originally designed to keep wild animals away from farms, authorities now use this mechanical wolf to stop bears from entering urban areas and attacking people. It was first used in Takikawa city in the autumn of 2020, according to Motohiro Miyasaka, president of the wolf's manufacturer Wolf Kamuy. Since then, more and more local governments have ordered the Monster Wolf - a name that does not betray its image.

The number of bear attacks in Japan has been rising at an alarming rate, authorities say. Experts say the main reason is that people, particularly young people, are leaving rural farming villages. Many of them have migrated to big cities, emptying villages or towns that have already been shrinking due to an ageing population.

"More and more, rural farmlands in the foothills that once acted as buffer zones between the bears and humans are disappearing," said Shinsuke Koike, a professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology whose research centres on bears, biodiversity, and forest ecosystems.

As a result, young bears have over the decades moved into the untended woodlands, living closer to cities, getting used to bright lights and loud noises, and becoming less afraid of humans.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66737051