A resort town in a mountainous area of central Japan is using a rare breed of dog to chase bears away from areas where people live, in an effort to promote coexistence.Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture had struggled since 2000 with bears entering the town to scavenge for food, when Picchio, a nonprofit organization devoted to conserving bears, introduced "bear dogs" there in 2004.The Karelian Bear Dog is specifically trained to bark and chase back into the forest bears that enter residential areas, thereby eliminating the need to either catch or kill the bears for the sake of ensuring public s…READ FULL ARTICLE
