Brown Bear Feeding on Seagull's Eggs

This is Nathan Shiga to tell you of a brown bear up in Raisu, Hokkaido, feeding on seagulls' eggs on top of a 10-meter-high steep cliff. Takashi Kawabata, 79, chanced to film the scene at 8:30 July 1 morning.

The video shows a brown bear slowly climbing a steep cliff 10 meters high, sticking his neck in the cavities near the top of the cliff eating seagull's eggs one cavity after another. Seagulls helplessly fly above the bear attacking their nests.

Kawabata inquired the local Shiretoko Natural Center, which responded that brown bears are known to attack seagull's nest for eggs but rarely filmed while feeding on them.

Speaking of bears, my readers may recall "A "Cow Belt" to Drive Wild Bears Away" (June 27) - an episode on frequent incidents of bears attacking rural farmers bamboo-shoots- hunting in village-vicinity mountains.

A recent reported has it that inside the stomach of a female wild bear recently hunted to death was noticed small particles of human remains. Experts are yet to decide whether there are man-killing bears around or the particular bear had happened to come in contact with a part of human remains left by the victims.

Lifestyle having drastically changed of late, the village-vicinity hills are very much vacated by humans and more wild animals find their way into the area. Besides, the villagers are higher in age and less mobile in such hills.

Further, the bamboo shoots happen to be a favorite of wild bears and a merchandise that fetches a good price. The victims are elderly, less mobile, and anxious for extra income.

Bear is a timid animal that seldom attacks humans unless threatened to react. The authorities are trying to strike a fair balance between security and wildlife preservation.