Bear Rampages In Japan's Supermarket: Messing Up Meat Parts, Arrested After Two Days

Alert Board for the presence of bears in Japan. (Wikimedia Commons/Guilhem Vellut)

JAKARTA - A bear raging in a supermarket in northern Japan was caught two days after attacking a worker, the latest incident in a surge in encounters between bears and people in the country.

The bear broke into a shop in Akita City on Saturday last week and attacked an employee (47) who caused a minor head injury, police said, as reported by CNN December 5.

Japanese authorities took two days to trap the bear. During that period, the bear tampered with the meat and damaged several shelves, police said, citing the store manager.

The bear, believed to have a length of 1 meter, remained in the shop after attacking the worker, so authorities sent a drone into the shop on Sunday to find it, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Outside, police officers in protective gear and holding shields entered the supermarket from the entrance covered by a piece of plastic, according to local media footage.

The bear was later found in a storage area, so workers set up box traps, with honey and apples to pull the bear, before being caught on Monday.

It is known, bear attack is a problem that has attracted attention in the Land of the Rising Sun, especially in the northern region, where thick mountains and shrubs provide the ideal habitat.

However, climate change disrupts the flowering and pollination schedule, disrupting traditional bear food sources, forcing them to venture into urban areas for food, according to some experts.