Japan Sees a Spike in Bear-Related Deaths Due to Climate Change

When most people think about bear encounters, they likely thing about the wooded areas of the U.S. that are known for their bear populations, like Alaska. However, bears seem to be wandering out of the woods and into more urban areas in a surprising place, according to official reports, and residents in one country are experiencing a record number of deaths as a result of these bear attacks: Japan.

That's right, the country is experiencing it's deadliest bear attack outbreak in recent history.

Officials say that 2025 has been the deadliest year for bear attack fatalities, particularly in the northeastern part of the country.

And the deaths aren't the only number that's climbing. According to reports, non-fatal attacks are also on the rise, as are instances of bears entering areas where they shouldn't be, which includes a stunning moment when a bear was filmed entering a grocery store through the retailer's automatic doors, where it wounded two people before wandering around.

Japan's environment ministry has released some grim numbers regarding the number of people killed due to bear attacks. According to the BBC, seven people have been killed by bears since April 2025, which is the start of the government's calendar year. This figure is the highest it's been since the country first began tracking bear-related deaths back in 2006.

Unfortunately for residents and locals, that number is likely to climb, since these numbers traditionally see an uptick in the fall.

While it sounds like there have been attacks around the country, People magazine reports that most of the fatal attacks have been centered in both the northeastern part of the country as well as the northern prefecture of Hokkaido island.

Japan has reported 100 bear attacks this year, which is up from an estimated 85 attacks and three deaths in the previous 12 months, running from April to April, according to the BBC.

However, the 2025 numbers may not be as accurate as you'd think, since authorities are still investigating some incidents around the country.

Authorities believe that the increase in bear-related attacks and fatalities may be tied to the fact that more people are moving out of cities and into rural areas, causing an increase in human exposure to bears. Additionally, NBC News reports that climate change may be playing a role, thanks to the way it's changing hibernation and feeding patterns.

Wikipedia says that Japan mostly sees a subspecies of Asian black bears on the two islands of Japan called the Japanese black bear (AKA: Ursus thibetanus japonicus). There are an estimated 44,000 black bears living in Japan.

While the black bear mostly forages for fruits and seeds, Japan is also home to the Ussuri brown bear, which is also sometimes called a black grizzly bear, and is most likely to blame for Japan's spike in deaths in 2025 due to the bear's strength and size.