Why are bears attacking people? Causes of bear encounters and how to stay safe

Japan’s record year

Japan recorded its deadliest year of bear attacks in fiscal 2025, which ran through March 2026. Government figures show that 216 incidents resulted in 238 casualties, including 13 deaths, while reported sightings exceeded 50,000 in the prefectures that publish such data.

Bears appeared near schools, railway stations, supermarkets and homes, taking a problem once associated mainly with mountain trails into towns and cities. The crisis became severe enough for Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force to be deployed to Akita Prefecture in November. Soldiers were not authorized to shoot bears but helped install traps and support hunters.

The government has since adopted a road map for systematic population control and launched a standardized survey, beginning with more than 800 cameras across the six prefectures of Tohoku and neighboring Niigata.

Onishi Naoki, a group leader at the Tohoku Research Center of Japan’s forestry research institute, has described the level of casualties as comparable to a natural disaster. In an interview with Nippon, he identified several overlapping causes.

One is the rise of “urban bears” born near settlements and accustomed to people. Poor harvests of acorns and other nuts can also push bears to expand their range before hibernation. Once they reach populated areas, they find persimmons, household waste and pet food. At the same time, Japan’s aging and shrinking rural population has left abandoned homes, overgrown fields and unharvested fruit trees where bears can find both cover and food.

Onishi argues that decades of protection-oriented policy also contributed to population growth. Yet shooting individual bears after they enter settlements cannot resolve the problem by itself. Long-term management requires reliable population estimates, trained personnel, removal of food attractants and restoration of the buffer between forests and housing.

Fatal attack in Russia’s Altai Republic

The danger of a bear reaching a campsite was demonstrated on August 19 near the village of Artybash in Russia’s Altai Republic. A bear entered a tourist camp, pulled a 29-year-old woman from a tent and dragged her into the forest, where she died. She had been camping with her fiancé, who survived.

Authorities declared a heightened state of readiness, restricted non-essential movement at night and issued additional licenses to kill bears. Hunting inspectors and drones were deployed to track their movements. Within two days, hunters had killed 12 bears around Artybash and neighboring Iogach. Officials said one may have been responsible for the attack, although this was not conclusively established.

It is also unclear what attracted the animal to the camp. The case should therefore not be blamed on improperly stored food without evidence. It nevertheless demonstrates why wildlife agencies consistently warn campers to keep food, garbage and scented items away from sleeping areas.

Colorado reports nearly twice as many encounters

Preliminary data from Colorado Parks and Wildlife show that the agency received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts between January 1 and August 13, compared with 3,115 during the same period in 2025. The agency also reported a 56% increase in incidents involving property damage.

Three people were injured on consecutive days. On August 17, a man encountered a female black bear outside an apartment laundry room in Eagle-Vail. On August 18, a bear entered a home in Steamboat Springs and struck a woman who tried to drive it out. Early on August 19, a man sleeping in a park in Aspen was bitten on the head. The bear involved in the Aspen attack was later euthanized.

Wildlife officials link the increase to drought, low snowpack and wildfires, which have reduced natural food supplies. Human food then becomes especially attractive. In late summer and autumn, bears enter hyperphagia, the period of intensive eating before hibernation, and may spend up to 22 hours a day searching for food.

Why not every attack has the same cause

British Columbia has also recorded several serious encounters this month, but investigators classified many as defensive rather than predatory. On August 2, a 72-year-old woman was seriously injured by a female grizzly with at least one cub near Gold Bridge. A week later, a man was injured after surprising an adult grizzly at close range near Pemberton. Neither bear was killed.

Other cases involved black bears. On August 9, a three-year-old girl was attacked on the back deck of her family home in Maple Ridge. Police killed a bear seen nearby, and DNA analysis later confirmed it was responsible. On August 14, a woman was injured after intervening when a female black bear with a cub attacked her off-leash dogs near Duncan. Officers again determined that the bear had acted defensively.

These cases illustrate an important distinction. Some bears enter populated areas in search of food, while others attack after being surprised, when protecting cubs or when guarding a food source. Treating every incident as evidence of the same behavior can lead to the wrong response.

The IUCN Bear Specialist Group describes human-bear conflict as a growing concern worldwide. It identifies recurring drivers including loss or degradation of forests, reduced natural food, changes in agriculture and the expansion of some bear populations. But there is no single explanation that fits every region or attack.

Human food is one of the clearest links. Japan’s Environment Ministry warns that bears that acquire a taste for kitchen waste and other high-value foods may become dependent on them, break into storage facilities and begin following people. This food conditioning weakens their natural caution and makes increasingly intrusive behavior more likely.

Why the issue also matters for Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has two geographically distinct brown bear populations. A 2026 study by researchers from Kazakhstan’s Institute of Zoology and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research identifies the threatened Tien Shan brown bear in the southeast and the East Siberian brown bear, managed as a game species, in the Altai Mountains of the northeast.

The study also stresses that there has been no comprehensive national assessment of their size and distribution. Recent sightings therefore do not establish that Kazakhstan is experiencing an increase in bear attacks, but they show why prevention matters.

In May, a Tien Shan brown bear approached tourist accommodation in the Attapkan gorge of Zhongar-Alatau National Park. The park said preliminary findings indicated that it had been attracted by the smell of food. No one was injured. In July, another bear was filmed on a road between Akzhailau and Urunkhaika in East Kazakhstan. Forestry workers and police responded, and the animal returned toward the mountains without injuring anyone.

What to do in bear country

The following recommendations are based on the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee and Japan’s Environment Ministry. Local guidance should always take priority because species, terrain and regulations vary.

Before entering bear habitat, check recent sightings and closures. Travel in a group when possible, make your presence known in dense vegetation or near loud streams, and watch for tracks, scat, digging sites and animal carcasses. Never approach a bear or its cubs. Carry bear spray where it can be reached immediately and know how to use it.

Food, garbage, cooking equipment and scented items should be kept out of tents. Use bear boxes, certified bear-resistant containers or hard-sided vehicles where permitted. Garbage should be placed in approved containers or packed out, never buried or burned.

If a bear has not noticed you, leave quietly. If it sees you, do not run. Stand your ground, speak calmly and back away slowly when the animal loses interest. If it becomes defensive or charges, prepare and use bear spray when it comes within range.

The correct response after contact depends on the species and behavior. North American guidance recommends playing dead during a defensive grizzly or brown bear attack by lying face down and protecting the head and neck, but never during an encounter with a North American black bear. If any bear follows a person deliberately, enters a tent or attacks in an apparently predatory manner, use bear spray and fight back.

Across Japan, Colorado, Canada, Altai and Kazakhstan, the most consistent advice is simple: do not surprise bears, do not approach them and do not give them a reason to associate people with food.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that Japan’s strict gun laws had collided with rising bear attacks, forcing municipalities to weigh the risks of emergency shootings in densely populated neighborhoods.