A bear was spotted in Ome, western Tokyo, on November 6, the latest in a run of sightings in the city. Near JR Miyanohira Station and along the Ome Kaido road, a cub came out of a bush in front of a house and ran at full speed toward a doorway where residents were inside.
The resident, a woman in her 50s, said she did not recognize it as a bear at first. "I panicked," she said. "It was a cub, but I thought an adult bear had appeared, and I was very frightened."
Just before the cub charged, a strange call came from the bush in front of her. Takayoshi Yamauchi, an associate professor at Iwate University who studies bear behavior, said people should be maximally on guard when they hear that sound. It is a danger signal, he said.
Seven sightings in the city this month
Ome has recorded seven bear sightings since the start of the month. Bears were seen along the Ome Kaido in the morning and again in the afternoon on November 6, and a cub appeared nearby three days earlier. The scene is about 1.5 kilometers from JR Ome Station, in a built-up area lined with houses.
Shortly before the cub charged, the resident saw a large bear walking on the road in front of her home. "I saw a black creature bigger than a person," she said. "I could see it going up toward the Ome Kaido." Then the high-pitched call came from the bush, and she started filming. About a minute later the cub burst out.
“Bears are basically animals that do not vocalize. In a parent-and-cub group, a cub calls when it is temporarily separated from its mother and frightened. This one came down to a human settlement, saw people and became agitated. It could attack someone. When you hear that kind of call, be maximally on guard. You should get into a building or somewhere safe as soon as possible.”Takayoshi Yamauchi, associate professor at Iwate University
In the nearby Ome Kaido at the same time, what appeared to be a bear was caught on camera crossing the road. A neighbor said his son saw it and told him. "It seems to have been hiding in the bush," the neighbor said.
Ome has set box traps for capture in the surrounding area, and members of the local hunters' association are patrolling.
Sightings in Tokyo have come as bears increasingly enter populated areas. In a separate report, an expert said more bears are becoming habituated to people, and Akita Prefecture extended its bear sighting advisory by one month.