It’s open season on dangerous bears.
We have reported on how Japan was forced to mobilize police and military forces to tackle dangerous bear populations that caused over 70 attacks on human beings in the last month.
Initially, all reports were mentioning the work to ‘capture’ the beasts – but yesterday (5), the National Police Agency announced that they’ve ‘revised the rules’ to allow riot officers ‘to cull wild bears with rifles’.
The Japan Times reported:
“The police are set to cull bears in Akita and Iwate prefectures, which have seen an increase in attacks on residents, with operations scheduled to begin on Nov. 13 when the revisions take effect.
The NPA will dispatch riot police officers to the two prefectures on Thursday to begin training.
Police have previously focused on ensuring the safety of residents and providing information about bear sightings. Due to a shortage of hunters, however, the NPA decided to take part in direct culling after receiving requests for support from the two prefectures.”
Hellbound and Down 