Bear Knocked Out by Tranquilizer Dart 30 Hours After Entering Barn in Northern Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:03 JST, October 30, 2023

A bear that entered a barn at a residence was captured after being hit with a tranquilizer dart in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday.

A resident of the house told the city government that the bear entered the barn around 9 a.m. on Sunday. City officials and local hunting club members tried to drive the bear away with firecrackers, but the bear did not leave, so they closed the shutters and sealed off the barn that evening.

The hunters attempted to capture the bear from around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, but the work was difficult as the bear was excited and acting violently in the barn. Around 2:20 p.m., or about 30 hours after the initial report, the bear was tranquilized by a veterinarian from a zoo in Morioka in the prefecture, and the animal was finally captured.

No one was injured in the incident.

According to the city and local police, the captured bear was an adult female about 1.5 meters long.