A bear attacked four people in Japan and escaped: “Open a window and run away”

Fukushima police and local hunters are looking for a bear that attacked four people and escaped after being shot with an anesthetic arrow. According to authorities, the bear was able to open a locked window, turn on a faucet to drink water and escape from an electronics factory where they were trying to capture him.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, when security cameras recorded the bear chasing and attacking a worker in the parking lot of a factory in Fukushima. A driver passing by drove the bear away when he drove towards it with the vehicle. From there the bear entered a nearby office building, attacked another person and escaped again. Later, two more people were injured before the bear entered an electronics factory in the area.

Workers at the site said that the bear used his palms to open a faucet and drink water. Teams with stun guns were called to the scene and set four traps at the entrances to the factory, but the bear managed to open a locked window and escape. Scratch marks around the lock were published in the local media.

The mayor of Fukushima said at a press conference that the bear was hit by an anesthetic arrow, but the anesthetic did not affect him: “I believe this is a particularly intelligent bear,” he said.

According to the authorities, police forces, inspectors, hunters and drones continue to search for the bear for days. Schools in the area were closed, and in some of them additional precautions were taken such as locking windows and doors on the ground floors.

In Japan, an increase in the number of bear attacks has been reported in recent years. According to the data published in the country, 13 people were killed in bear attacks in the year that ended last March, and a total of 238 serious attacks were recorded – a local record that was broken this year.