00:01The police are out in force in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture, and the press is too.
00:09Helicopters take to the air, joining this search from above.
00:12It looks like a manhunt, but the target of this operation isn't a criminal suspect.
00:17It's a wild animal.
00:21For days, a wild black bear has terrified the residents of Utsunomiya.
00:25More than a dozen sightings led the city to suspend classes in all of its 94 elementary and middle schools
00:32for two days.
00:33Residents watched anxiously as the hunt for the roughly 100-kilogram bear unfolded.
00:39It was near my house, so first I told my family not to go out, and I just kept watching
00:44it.
00:44Then it climbed back up again.
00:49Japan is a country where bears and humans are coming into more and more deadly conflict, even in cities.
00:55Officials recorded over 200 bear attacks last year, 13 of them fatal.
01:00Just last week, a bear in another part of Japan injured four people.
01:04So in Utsunomiya, even people who've never come across a bear were on the alert.
01:10This is the first time something like that has happened here.
01:14I was surprised, and my home is nearby.
01:20In the end, a local zookeeper brought the panic to an end.
01:23It took him three shots with a tranquilizer gun to hit his target.
01:28I found some places I could take the shot, three in total.
01:32One of them was dangerous for me to shoot from, and another was too close, so I wasn't sure.
01:36But the closest one ended up being the easiest to shoot from, so I took the shot there.
01:42But the city isn't in the clear yet.
01:44Classes are cancelled Wednesday, too, amid reports there may be more than just that one bear roaming the area.
01:51There's also a much bigger question.
01:53Can Japan live with its bears, as they make their way into more populated areas?
01:57In March, the government estimated there might be around 58,000 bears in the country.
02:03And, with official plans to control those numbers, including calls, it looks like Japan's bear problem isn't ending soon.
02:10Scott Huang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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