You’d think that with bear attacks rising in Japan, tourists wouldn’t risk feeding them. Yet in Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula, visitors tossed snack foods to a brown bear well known to locals as the “Mother of Iwaobetsu.”
Locals said she was normally calm, but after being fed by tourists, her behavior changed. On August 14, 2025, the Shiretoko bear attack claimed the life of a 26-year-old hiker on Mt. Rausu.
This tragedy was not a freak accident in the wilderness. Across Japan, bear encounters are reaching record levels. Climate shifts, poor nut harvests, and growing populations all play a role.
But when tourists treat predators like the tame deer of Nara or Miyajima, they create a deadly cycle of habituation. That cycle can turn a curious bear into a killer.
The fatal encounter
On August 14, 2025, a 26-year-old hiker died after a brown bear mauled him on Mt. Rausu in Hokkaido. The bear was a female, about 1.4 meters long and weighing 117 kilograms. Locals knew her well and called her the “Mother of Iwaobetsu.” Until then, the beloved bear had never been seen as a threat. After the attack, local authorities killed her.
In Japan, this is standard practice. Once a bear kills or injures a person, it is almost always culled, not relocated. That policy shows how quickly human actions can decide an animal’s fate.
Why did this calm bear suddenly “snap”? Many experts point to human behavior, especially tourists who fed her. Most bear attacks in Japan don’t involve food handouts, but the habit is especially dangerous. Feeding teaches bears to see humans as a food source.
Nationwide, most attacks stem from food shortages, shrinking habitats, and expanding bear populations. But in Shiretoko, where tourists treated a wild predator like the deer of Nara, the outcome turned fatal.
The case of “Rusha Taro”
The August 14 fatality wasn’t the first red flag in Shiretoko. Locals had already dealt with “Rusha Taro,” a male bear that killed or mauled at least eight pet dogs between 2018 and 2021. In 2022, hunters trapped and killed him after he ate a dog in broad daylight.
Fisherman Sakurai Kenji, who once survived a close encounter with the animal, later described Rusha Taro as old, thin, and plagued by rotten teeth. Unable to hunt or forage, the bear turned instead to garbage and tethered dogs.
For residents, Rusha Taro’s story warned that when natural food runs short, aging or stressed bears will turn to human settlements. For tourists, it should be a wake-up call: one tossed snack or careless photo can create the next “problem bear.”
A system at its breaking point
Bears chewing on cars, blocking roads in “bear jams,” and ignoring people have become familiar sights. In fiscal 2024 alone, officials recorded 70 cases of dangerous tourist behavior around brown bears. These included visitors feeding them snacks and approaching them up close.
Japan revised its Natural Parks Law in 2022 to ban feeding and approaching bears. But patrol staff have no power to enforce it. No tourist has ever been fined or penalized. Motorists are the worst offenders, tossing food from their cars. Each interaction teaches bears to expect meals and raises the risk of tragedy.
Experts warn that as long as bears learn to view humans as food sources, attacks like the one at Mt. Rausu are not rare accidents. They are inevitabilities.
A rising tide of bear attacks
The Shiretoko tragedy is part of a broader trend. Across Japan, encounters with brown and black bears have surged to record levels. Between April and November 2023, more than 19,000 bear sightings were reported nationwide. The Tōhoku region alone accounted for about 60 percent.
In that same period, 212 people were injured and six killed — the highest toll since records began in 2006. One of the most shocking cases happened in Akita Prefecture, where a bear stormed a supermarket and injured four people.
Experts point to several overlapping causes. Poor acorn and beech nut harvests leave bears desperate for food. Climate change shifts seasonal cycles and reduces salmon runs in northern rivers.
Rural depopulation leaves fields and orchards abandoned, creating easy foraging grounds at the edges of villages. At the same time, bear populations have steadily increased, as Japan’s aging population means there are fewer hunters to keep them culled. Together, these factors create the perfect recipe for more encounters — and more conflict.
Most incidents happen far from tourist trails. Farmers are surprised in their fields, foragers are attacked while gathering mushrooms, and elderly residents are bitten near their homes.
But Shiretoko’s “Mother of Iwaobetsu” and Rusha Taro highlight a different, human-made risk: what happens when tourists blur the boundary between wild and tame.
The price of a snack
Japan is famous for its approachable, photogenic wildlife. Tourists feed crackers to Nara’s deer, snap selfies with Ōkunoshima’s rabbits, and scatter snacks for Arashiyama’s monkeys. But brown bears are not deer, rabbits, or monkeys. Treating them as part of the same “cute animal” culture risks human lives and dooms the bears themselves.
The tragedy of the “Mother of Iwaobetsu” shows how fast a careless act can spiral into death. A snack tossed from a car window or a photo taken too close may seem harmless. In Shiretoko, it escalated into a fatal encounter. The case also reveals the bitter irony of UNESCO status. The natural beauty that draws visitors from across the world is being imperiled by their presence.
Protecting people and bears will require stronger enforcement of wildlife laws. But responsibility does not stop with patrol staff or local officials. Tourists must rethink their role: not as participants in a photo op, but as guests in a fragile ecosystem. Feeding a wild bear may feel like curiosity or kindness. As Shiretoko makes clear, it can be the first step toward tragedy.
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Sources
Dog-killing bear ‘RT’ killed after 4 years of terror in Hokkaido town. Asahi Shimbun
観光客によるヒグマへの餌付けで凶暴化…74歳女性が「9頭のクマ」に食い荒らされた惨劇も. Newsweek
