Pepper-spraying drones, four-legged robots, and artificial intelligence. How Japan uses technology to protect itself from bears

According to the country's Ministry of the Environment, bears injured a record 238 people in the 2025 fiscal year, with another 13 fatalities. In the first five months of 2026, 62 people were injured, and six of them died, writes The Washington Post.

Researchers cite several possible reasons. The rural population is shrinking, people are moving to cities, and bears are occupying abandoned territories. Climate change and a decrease in the number of hunters may also be contributing factors. Animals are increasingly approaching human settlements for food and are less afraid of people.

In Shōwa village, drones with thermal imagers, previously acquired for mountain rescue operations, have been adapted to search for bears. This helps locate animals where dense trees obscure the view of a regular camera.

With this technology, nine bears have been caught. The fate of the animals is decided according to prefecture rules: they may be released or culled depending on the damage caused and the circumstances of their appearance.

In Sendai, AI-powered cameras help determine where to place traps and electric fences. The B Alert system was trained on approximately 60,000 images of wild animals. According to its developers, it recognizes bears with 99.9% accuracy. It is already in use in 29 municipalities.

Another team in Tokyo is creating a map of locations where bear encounters are probable. Artificial intelligence analyzes past observations, population data, and satellite images. The project leader estimates the prediction accuracy at approximately 70%.

Meanwhile, a startup at the University of Tokyo is testing four-legged robots. They are designed to find and deter bears, overcoming steep slopes, obstacles, and dense thickets.

Drones with pepper spray are also being tested: at one demonstration, a city employee in a bear costume played the role of a bear.

Павялічыць

Technology also helps hunters. In Shibetsu, an accurate GPS map shows the real-time locations of various groups of hunters, police, and local officials. This reduces the risk of accidentally shooting a person while pursuing an animal.

However, Kiyoshi Yamauchi, a researcher at Iwate University, warns: bears learn. If a device doesn't pose a real threat to them, they can get used to it and stop reacting.

«It's important not to assume that simply implementing new technology means the problem is solved,» he emphasizes.

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