Of all the things to wash ashore, especially on one Japanese island, a human head is among those least expected.
Despite the peculiar nature of the event, that’s exactly what transpired on the northernmost island of Hokkaido last week. As with most gruesome finds, the first step is an attempt to identify a suspect and in this case, authorities believe the case is pretty cut and dry.
Doing what he had done hundreds of times before, a local fishing guide dropped off recreational fisherman Toshihiro Nishikawa along the shores of Lake Shumarinai for a few hours of fishing. According to reports, when he returned he was surprised to find no sign of the fisherman and a large bear wandering the shoreline with what appeared to be a pair of hip waders in its mouth.
Following the report of the missing fisherman, local authorities organized a search party. During the search and rescue mission, the only thing that they found was Nishikawa’s decapitated head.
This most recent incident follows a growing trend of attacks on the island and in 2021, the prefecture reinstituted the spring bear hunting season. While only 45 bears were taken in the inaugural season, nearly 1,000 more bears were killed by officials following complaints of both crop damage and negative human interactions.
The island’s bear population has exploded after hitting an all-time low in 1990. At that time, Hokkaido was home to as little as 5,000 bears causing legislators to do away with the existing spring bear hunt that was in place. As with any true conservation effort, the bear population rebounded in a big way. By 2020, the island’s bear population swelled to about 12,000, but with that came the increased levels of human and bear interactions.
With no signs of removing the spring bear hunt, officials continue to be alarmed as development on the island continues to encroach on the bear’s natural habitat.
