Tokyo, Japan – A family in northern Japan called police after finding a bear in their kitchen, an official said Wednesday, as anxiety over the animals grows following a surge in deadly maulings.
Bears have killed at least five people in Japan since April 1. All the fatalities have been in the northern region of Tohoku.
Last year, a record 13 fatal attacks were recorded across the country, according to Tokyo's environmental ministry.
Monday evening, Police in the northern region of Iwate, which is part of Tohoku, received a call from a family saying a bear had broken into their home.
The animal "opened the fridge, scattering its contents nearby," a local police official told AFP, declining to be named.
Footprints suggest the bear then "made its way out through a back door adjacent to the kitchen and hunted through a bin for food waste," the official said.
The incident occurred in the town of Shizukuishi, where at least four other bear break-ins have been reported since July 5.
In recent months there has been a jump in sightings after the bears emerged from hibernation, and more bears have been straying into towns and cities.
In June, dozens of police, hunters and city officials needed four days to trap a bear roaming Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, forcing mass school closures.
Before that, another bear described as "extremely intelligent" – it had opened a window and turned on a tap – attacked four people at two factories in Fukushima and remained at large for days.
Scientists attribute the sharp rise in bear incidents to an increase in the animal's population, a declining number of people in rural areas, and other factors including variations in the availability their usual food sources.