A wild brown bear wreaked havoc in northern Japan on Friday, capturing the nation’s attention during an eight-hour rampage that was streamed online and broadcast on national news bulletins.
The bear transfixed viewers as it roamed through residential streets, forced its way onto a military base and disrupted flights at a small airport — injuring four people before eventually being shot dead.
The frenzied hunt prompted government warnings for residents to stay inside as the bear trampled through the northern city of Sapporo, which is due to host some Olympic events later this summer.
Images of the animal went viral on social media as people tuned in to livestreams, watching the bear mosey past homes on a narrow street, climb a barbed-wire fence and disrupt traffic as police hurriedly tried to capture it.
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A local resident first reported seeing a bear on the road in Sapporo before dawn on Friday, according to police. Multiple sightings were reported after that, police said, as the bear remained on the loose into the morning.
“If you find a bear, be careful to evacuate immediately,” Hokkaido police warned.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, urged residents to stay home and be alert during a news conference on Friday.
He told reporters the bear had entered one of Japan’s self-defense force military barracks in the city and confirmed that at least four people had suffered injuries following the bear’s rampage.
“We pay our condolences to the people affected in the Sapporo city,” he said.
Video footage showed the bear knocking down a uniformed soldier at the gate of the barracks before running through the camp and intruding onto the runway at a nearby airport. Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that flights were briefly halted, while some local schools also reportedly closed.
The soldier suffered cuts on his chest and stomach, but his injury was not life threatening, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry. The other three people injured by the rampage were a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s, and a man in his 40s — but their conditions were not known, Hokkaido prefectural police said.
The bear then ran into a forest where it was eventually shot by a local hunting association working in collaboration with the police — ending the eight-hour bear chase.
“The brown bear that had infested the eastern ward was terminated,” the Sapporo City public relations department tweeted.
Local police also said on Twitter that the bear had been “exterminated,” and images of officials wrapping the animal in a blue sheet were shared online.
Read More: Bear shot dead in Japan after rampage through military base, airport