News Black Bear Yoshida, Yamato (Miyagi Prefecture), Miyagi Dec 20, 2025, 08:00 AM

Description

On December 20 at around 08:00, an 89-year-old man, Mitsuo Kato, was found dead in a forest in Yoshida, Yamato, Miyagi Prefecture near a female bear about 1.3 meters long caught in a boar trap. A postmortem determined the cause of death was traumatic shock; the bear was euthanized on site and police believe the man was likely attacked by the bear.

Note: Official sources provide information in Japanese only. This description has been machine translated for your convenience.

Summary

In a forest in Yamato, a hunter was found dead near a female bear caught in a boar trap; an autopsy showed he died from traumatic shock. The approximately 1.3-meter bear was euthanized at the scene, and hunting association members warn that unintended bear captures in boar traps have risen. If confirmed, this would be the first recorded December fatality from a bear since records began.

Bear Type

Black Bear

Number of Bears

1

Provider Type

News

Date & Time

Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 08:00 AM

Address

Coordinates

38.450169, 140.848896

Sources