Japan's bear attacks: we unravel what's going on

Bear attacks in Japan have been in the news a lot recently. There have been over 220 attacks so far this year, and a record 13 people dead. Why is this happening? And what can be done about it? There's a lot of information out there, and it's hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to conflicts with wildlife. So I made two quick phone calls: one to a reporter from The New York Times and another to a Japanese bear biologist to figure out what's really going on. Guests: Javier C. Hernández , Tokyo Bureau Chief for the New York Times Masahiro (Masa) Ohnishi, Principle Research Scientist at the Wildlife Management Office in Japan Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild . Thank you.

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Japan's bear attacks: we unravel what's going on is an episode from The Wild with Chris Morgan by The Wild with Chris Morgan.

This episode is 35:07 long.

This episode was published on Dec 16, 2025.

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