Four Climbers Airlifted from Hokkaido Mountain After Bear Blocks Trail

Four climbers were rescued by helicopter from a mountain in Hokkaido after a brown bear blocked their descent on Saturday afternoon. The group became trapped after a man in his 60s spotted the bear nearly 50 meters ahead on the trail. Three other climbers joined him and they were unable to continue down the 2,141-meter peak.

m. local time. All four were airlifted to safety without injury. The bear was described as approximately 1.5 meters tall.

The incident occurred the same day Mount Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula reopened to climbers for the first time since last August. Nearly 50 city officials and climbers attended a ceremony on Sunday morning marking the reopening. Also on Sunday, an 83-year-old man was attacked by a bear while picking mountain vegetables in Akita prefecture.

He suffered head and face injuries but remained able to communicate when taken to hospital, police said.

The incidents add to a sharp rise in bear encounters across Japan. At least five people have been killed by bears since April 1, following a record 13 deaths in the last fiscal year. Japan has begun installing more than 800 cameras in northern mountains as part of a nationwide bear population survey.

Authorities in several cities have distributed anti-bear sprays and set up deterrent devices at schools and community facilities. Bear sightings have reached exceptionally high levels, with the Tohoku region recording the greatest concentration. Scientists attribute the rise to increased bear populations, declining rural communities, poor harvests of mountain food sources, and shorter hibernation periods linked to climate change.