Over-Populated Wild Animals to Butchers?

The ruling government parties, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito are in agreement now to dispose of over-populated wild animals and envisage a legislation to activate the central and regional governments to work out means to eliminate such wildlife - possibly for human consumption.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan's farmers account 70% of their losses for the behaviors of deer, boars and monkeys, and the legislation passed in 2008 has failed to reduce wildlife hazards any further than 20 billion yen per year.

Both parties now propose to revise the current legislation to openly support local communities in building meat-processing facilities and arranging product circulation networks with a view to coping with the problem of wildlife hazards.

The opposition parties are to be consulted to quickly pass a legislation at the instance of House members.

Well, in a nutshell, Japan is now a paradise for wild animals - deer, boars and bears. A few lines on wild bears may be due here.

Bears have injured/killed lone mushroom hunters in remote areas in Japan. Sure enough, as many as 1000 or more of Japanese bears are caught every year. A past survey identified 10,000-15,000 heads across the nation. The way they are eliminated, bears should be gone by now, but that is not the case - bear hazards continuing each year since.

Experts and photographers, however, testify that bears are rather rising in population judging from the images left on the unmanned cameras, footprints, crap and nests (bear shelves). Are they growing in number or decreasing?

Wildlife conservationists argue that bears feed on acorns and over-deforestation had deprived them of food and compelled them to come near human habitation.

Japanese fairy tales are rich with wildlife and the Japanese have a unique concept of nature' s life-cycle - of which wildlife is a vital performer. Personally, I would hesitate at the sight of deer meat, much less bear. (Nathan Shiga)