Frequent Bear Sightings Lead to Evening Mail Delivery Bans
Telecom Companies Educate on Bear Repellent Spray Usage
Delivery Companies Establish Internal Manuals… Possibility of Halting Operations If Damage Worsens
Concerns Over Increasing Train-Bear Collision Incidents, ‘[Edaily’s Yang Ji-yoon] As the number of bear-related incidents surges in Japan, companies providing essential services are facing significant operational challenges. With the unpredictability of bear encounters, businesses are striving to establish response measures.’,
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, ‘According to Kyodo News on the 10th, Japan Post set a policy on the 5th that allows post offices to halt collection or delivery at their discretion to protect employee safety. Delivery delays might occur if local governments issue entry restrictions or if sightings make continued operations challenging.’,
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, ‘In areas where bears frequently appear, motorbike deliveries after 5 PM are generally prohibited, and counter operations may also be temporarily suspended depending on the situation.’,
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, ‘NTT East, a telecommunications company, for the first time this month, held education sessions for its group employees in Iwate Prefecture on using bear repellent sprays. Although employees carry sprays when visiting mountainous areas for communication equipment maintenance, the training aims to establish practical safety measures.’,
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, ‘Delivery company Yamato Transport created a new company guideline in October detailing how to respond if encountering bears. According to Kyodo News, there might even be a possibility of halting postal or logistics operations if the risk of damage grows.’,
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, ‘JR East is implementing measures against wildlife damage, like spraying repellents extracted from lion urine along train tracks to deter deer and wild boars. A spokesperson noted, “It seems like there have been more instances of bears colliding with trains this year,” expressing concern that “collisions significantly disrupt stable operations as they cannot be cleared by the company.” ‘,
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, ‘From April to September this year, there were 20,000 reported cases of bears appearing in non-mountainous human living spaces like residential areas, government offices, and large commercial facilities in Japan. This resulted in 13 fatalities, more than double the previous worst record of 6 in 2023.’,
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, ‘Experts point to food scarcity combined with a “new generation of bears” that exhibit decreased wariness of humans as the main causes. They explain that population decline and habitat changes in mid-mountain areas have accelerated bear movements, leading to bears that have become accustomed to urban environments and noise.’,
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