Bears delaying hibernation due to food access in residential areas: expert

TOKYO - Bears that have learned to find food in residential areas tend to delay hibernation, an expert said, urging the public to take thorough measures to remove attractants such as abandoned persimmon trees amid continued bear sightings and human casualties despite the arrival of winter in Japan.

In the early hours of Dec. 4, a couple delivering newspapers in central Japan's Toyama Prefecture were injured in a bear attack and taken to a hospital. Later the same day, a woman in her 60s was clawed by a bear in Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan.