Elderly Man Encounters Bear in Forest; He Drives It Off With A Stick

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:06 JST, May 4, 2024

A 73-year-old man encountered a bear in a mountain forest in Miyako in Iwate Prefecture on Friday but succeeded in chasing it away.

According to police, the man, a local resident, was alone in the forest looking for wild vegetables when he came across the bear at around 3:45 p.m. on Friday.

Police said that the man jabbed the bear in the neck with a 120-centimeter stick that he was carrying, and the animal fled the way it came.

The man sustained no injuries, the police reported.