Then he suddenly started walking in circles: last moments of a Japanese man killed by a bear mapped out by his smartwatch

According to the watch’s data, the man’s heart stopped about a hundred meters from the path, indicating that he died there. The watch remained silent all night, but the next morning there was movement again, indicating that the bear returned to drag the body away. Three days later, a bear with two cubs was seen dragging the body. The three animals were killed.

The attack is not an isolated case: thirteen people have been killed by bears in Japan this year, a record. More than 200 others were also injured. There are also increasing reports of bears in busier, populated areas, with incidents near schools and even supermarkets. According to scientists, the cause of the many incidents is a rapidly growing bear population, a shortage of food for the animals and the depopulation of certain regions as a result of the population decline in the country.