By Linnea Lueken
CNN recently posted an article claiming that climate change is causing an uptick in bear attacks in Japan. There is no evidence climate change is behind the bear attacks. In fact, there are several more relevant and direct factors likely contributing to the increase in dangerous bear encounters.
The CNN article, “Bear attacks in Japan are at a record high. Climate change and an aging population are making the problem worse,” opens describing a bear attack that was caught on camera, in which an Asiatic black bear attacked a man on his way to work. CNN interviewed supposed experts who say the bears are leaving the wild and entering urban areas more, in part because “climate change is interfering with the flowering and pollination of some of the animals’ traditional sources of food.”
The bears particularly enjoy acorns and other tree nuts. CNN quotes an associate professor from Nagaoka University of Technology, Maki Yamamoto, who explains that “you can have years of bad harvests and years of good harvest of acorns,” and during those bad years, bears “get closer to human settlements looking for fruits, chestnuts, persimmons, walnuts, and farm products in general[.]” CNN reports that indeed this year’s low acorn yield is a major contributing factor pushing bears into human populated regions.
