Japan's Environment Ministry says a record high number of bears were captured in the country between April and October of this year.

A total of 9,867 bears across 31 prefectures is the highest for the period since the ministry began keeping statistics in fiscal 2006.

The six prefectures of the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan accounted for about 70 percent of the total. The highest figure was from Akita at 1,973, followed by Aomori and Fukushima at around 1,150.

The ministry attributes the sharp rise in captures to the frequent sightings of bears in urban areas.

Meanwhile, the number of hunters capable of capturing bears declined. The ministry says the number of people with the license required for the use of rifles and shotguns dropped by more than 70 percent from 297,000 in fiscal 1985 to 84,400 in fiscal 2021.

The central government says it will offer help with labor costs to municipalities that hire people with that license as government hunters.

The government plans to capture more bears when they wake up from hibernation in the spring. It also intends to adopt zoning-based control to separate areas where people live and the habitats of bears.

Nhk