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Bear Encounters Interrupt Parachute Training for Us Troops in Japan
Continuing an ever-growing trend in Japan, four bear encounters have interrupted parachute training for the Reconnaissance Marines in northern Japan. Members of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne have been in Japan this month for a series of parachute training drills. With the plan being to jump into the Narashino Training Area in Chiba Prefecture and the Ojojibara Maneuver Area in Miyagi Prefecture, before moving north and deploying to Hokkaido. While at the Ojojibara Maneuver Area, the reconnaissance Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force experienced four encounters with Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). The marines being accustomed to operating in bear territory in Alaska, were equipped with bear spray and moved away from the bears. Additionally, there was a team that responded with more bear spray and fireworks to deal with the bear in a non-lethal manner.
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Japan has been dealing with an increasing number of bear encounters as of late. Even requiring the mobilization of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force in November to help deal with the surge of deadly bear encounters that a least a dozen people dead and more than 100 injured since last spring. A combination of an aging population, people leaving the countryside, and abandoned farmland has led to a perfect storm in northern Japan for bear encounters. In this case, the Marines encountered the smaller of the two species of bears in Japan, the Asiatic black bear, which typically weighs in around 200 lbs and stands about 5 ft tall. In Hokkaido, there is the Ussuri brown bear (Ursus arctos lasiotus), which typically weighs around 440 to 660 lbs, but is capable of reaching 880 lbs.
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