Think bears are a problem in your Colorado neighborhood? At least it’s not so bad that the government is literally sending in the military to stop attacks. That’s what’s happening in Japan.

Japan has officially deployed military troops to its northern prefecture of Akita following more than 100 attacks that have occurred across Japan in the last seven months and change – more than 50 of which took place in the aforementioned mountainous region. According to NPR, of the 100-plus attacks nationwide, at least 12 people have been killed.

A number of factors are at play in the recent string of attacks, in part stemming from a lack of people hunting bears in the region resulting in a bear population that’s on the rise. With more bears roaming around, this population has become more intertwined with residential areas. It’s also worth noting that this part of Japan is home to an aging human population, with the general human population on decline.

While ‘sending the military to fight off the bears’ certainly makes for a good headline, there’s more to it than that. Instead of waging war against the aggressive bears directly, soldiers will be helping to set traps and transport hunters into problematic areas, also assisting with the removal of deceased bears. At this time, military personnel won’t be directly responsible for shooting bears.

It’s estimated that Japan has a bear population of 54,000. There are two native species – the Asiatic black bear on islands Honshu and Shikoku and the Ussuri brown bear on island Hokkaido. The Akita Prefecture is on Honshu, thus the smaller Asiatic black bear has been behind the majority of the recent attacks, not the bear that’s more similar to a grizzly.

It’s also worth noting that the bear attacks of 2025 have actually been fewer in numbers compared to those of 2023. Cowboy State Daily reports that between April and November of that year, there were 212 bear attack victims and six deaths.

The Cowboy State Daily report also gets into why Japan’s bears are considered to be more aggressive than their North American counterparts, stating that it’s believed mainland Asia ancestors of the Asiatic black bears likely developed more violent traits due to a long history of facing off with larger felines, like tigers.

With a lack of development in some of Japan’s sparsely populated mountainous regions, hunting bears in attempt to control the population is no easy task. Plus, many of the younger people in these regions who would be more likely and more able to take on the challenge have moved to the cities in a sort of rural flight that’s taken place in recent decades.

Even with the military on board to assist with the problem, it doesn’t sound like Japan’s issue with bear attacks will be going away any time soon.