News Black Bear Waga, Kitakami City (Iwate), Iwate Jul 3, 2025, 03:00 PM

Description

On 2025-07-04, an elderly woman was found inside her home in Waga, Kitakami City with multiple wounds and bleeding. The bear culled on 2025-07-11 was DNA-matched to that individual, and on 2025-10-08 another elderly man was found in a nearby forest about 7 km south with severe body damage.

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

Summary

In Waga, Kitakami City, an unusually aggressive Asian black bear entered a home and attacked an elderly woman; the culled bear on July 11 was DNA-matched to the victim. Later, in October, another elderly man was found severely mutilated about 7 km south, prompting experts to warn of a potential chain of attacks by a bear that has learned to prey on humans.

Bear Type

Black Bear

Number of Bears

1

Provider Type

News

Date & Time

Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 03:00 PM

Address

Coordinates

39.286774, 141.113154

Sources