00:00Ninety-four schools in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya have been suspended on Monday
00:05after its first-ever bear sighting.
00:08Surveillance camera footage showed the bear running through a shopping street just metres
00:12from a pair of residents.
00:14The city, of half a million residents about 60 miles north of Tokyo, said the bear was
00:19first seen in a residential area near a park on Saturday evening.
00:23It remains at large after the last sighting early Monday morning, less than a mile from
00:28a middle school.
00:29I'm so surprised to see it come this far into our city.
00:32It's never happened before.
00:35Last week, a bear attack in the north-eastern city of Fukushima left at least four people
00:41injured.
00:42Security footage showed a black bear chasing a worker by the entrance of a factory and throwing
00:47him to the ground.
00:48Bear attacks, including in urban areas, have been on the rise in Japan as numbers grow,
00:53helped by a decline in hunting.
00:54It's prompted the government to set up a task force to reduce casualties.
00:59Experts say climate change has reduced harvests for bears' natural food.
01:04Depopulation of rural areas and the rise in abandoned farmland have emboldened them to seek
01:09food near human settlements.
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