TOKYO: Officials said Tuesday that hunters in Japan’s far north have killed an elusive and infamous brown bear nicknamed “Ninja” that attacked at least 66 cows.
The “OSO18” strikes, as the bear was named, attracted wide news coverage, including dramatic television documentaries.
The animal started attacking livestock in 2019. Bears in Japan are found in the eastern regions of Hokkaido, which is a sparsely populated Island in northern Japan.
His habit of not eating the dairy cows he attacked baffled experts and it eluded efforts to catch or kill her for years. Half of his 66 victims died. The bear was shot at the end of July.
“The brown bear was hunted on July 30 and various analyses, including DNA testing, have confirmed that it was OSO18,” Tadayoshi Takeda, an official with the Hokkaido regional government, told the news agency on Tuesday.
“I’m sure local residents are relieved to hear this news,” he said.
Brown bears are only in Hokkaido, and their population is estimated around 12,000 and growing. This has resulted in issues when they come in contact with humans.
In 2021, four people were killed and 10 injured in bear incidents, a record number.
Brown bears have also been blamed for around $2 million worth of crop damage, the most on record.
