【巨大ヒグマ連続出没】「春にここまで大きいのは見たことない」冬眠明けなのになぜ？"畑の農作物"で昨秋に栄養蓄えた可能性も…苫前町で330キロ級を捕獲＿島牧村でも280キロのクマがハンター襲撃

"Grrr!" A huge bear leaped towards us, roaring continuously. It repeatedly slammed its body against the fence, threatening us. Approximately 2.2 meters long, and despite having just emerged from hibernation, it was plump and weighed 330 kilograms. The bear was captured in the Nagashima district of Tomamae Town, northern Hokkaido. The surrounding area is dotted with fields of wheat and dent corn. Bears appear annually in the area, and after multiple sightings near populated areas in 2026, a box trap was set a few days prior, and the bear was captured that night. The captured giant bear was culled on April 27th. The local hunting association… "I've never seen a bear this big in the spring," (Local Hunting Association) In Tomamae Town, a large bear repeatedly appeared in 2025, and a total of seven bears were culled, including one weighing over 400 kg. In 2026, it is believed that even more bears are living in the surrounding area, and the situation remains tense. However, other towns are also troubled by large bears from spring onwards… "It was hit five or six times, but it still didn't die. I've never seen such a tenacious bear before," (Hunter) On the 26th, in Shimamaki Village, Shiribeshi, a 69-year-old male hunter was attacked and injured by a bear while culling bears. "I heard on the radio, 'Another one has come out from above,'" "The bear was on top of the man…" (Hunter) At the time, the man was in the mountains with companions to cull spring bears. After eliminating two bears, another bear appeared above the stream. A fellow hunter fired, causing the bear to tumble down towards the man. "The bear was leaning over me, so I waited for it to move away to avoid harming the man, then I shouted to scare it away and shot when it was gone," said the hunter. "He was desperately defending himself, which was fortunate," he added. Although the man sustained head and facial injuries, he survived. The bear was subsequently killed; it was a large individual weighing 280 kilograms. Why would a bear that entered hibernation during a food shortage in the mountains reappear weighing over 300 kilograms in the spring? "It's highly likely that this individual was able to hibernate sufficiently, even if it wasn't nutritious, by going out to fields and eating crops like corn, regardless of the mountain's harvest, thus gaining enough weight," said Professor Kiwa Sato of Rakuno Gakuen University. According to Professor Sato, bears generally lose 20-30% of their weight during hibernation. The bear in Tomamae Town may have weighed over 400 kilograms. At this time of year, when hungry bears emerge from hibernation and become active, extreme caution is necessary. Despite the recent emergence from hibernation, there have been numerous sightings of large bears in Hokkaido. Normally, brown bears that appear in urban areas are mostly females with cubs or young males. However, the bear captured in Tomamae Town this time was a male adult weighing 330 kilograms. Generally, brown bears are said to lose 20-30% of their weight during hibernation, meaning that before hibernation, it was a "super-giant bear" weighing around 400 kilograms. In 2025, there was an extremely poor harvest of acorns and other nuts in the mountains, leading to a surge in bear sightings in urban areas. So, if food was scarce due to the poor harvest, why were there such large individuals? Professor Sato analyzes the reason as "the possibility that they ate crops in the fields before entering hibernation." The area surrounding the capture site has many fields of wheat and dent corn, suggesting that the bear likely accumulated nutrients from these crops regardless of the abundance of mountain produce. Regarding this season's brown bear sightings, Professor Sato predicts, "The abundance or scarcity of nuts tends to repeat every year, and this year's harvest is expected to be better than last year's. Because there is an abundance of food in the mountains, it will likely be a relatively quiet year for humans." However, even if sightings decrease, we cannot be complacent. Professor Sato urges, "This year should be a year for advancing preventative measures." This is because, like the brown bear in Tomamae Town, there is a possibility that the number of bears that grow large and reproduce by feeding on crops in fields, regardless of mountain produce, is increasing. He emphasized that concrete measures, such as strengthening measures against intrusion into fields and orchards, sharing the costs, and creating sustainable systems, should be implemented by 2026. With more opportunities to enter the mountains for activities like gathering wild vegetables during this time of year, sufficient bear countermeasures are necessary.