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A group of bears escaped from their enclosure at a park in northern Japan and mauled two women to death before they were tracked down and killed, police said Friday.
The two victims, employees in their 60s and 70s at the Hachimantai bear park near Kazuno City in Akita prefecture, were believed to have been feeding the bears from outside the concrete fence before several of the animals escaped, The Associated Press reported. The animals may have taken advantage of high-piled snowdrifts to climb over the fence.
The women's mangled bodies were found hours after a third employee escaped and called for help, according to AP.
Local hunters shot and killed six of the animals, all within the gated park.
Akita prefectural police spokesman Haruki Itou told ABC News there was no chance to simply tranquilize the bears.
"We could not get anywhere near the animals, but could not afford to let them escape," Itou was quoted as saying.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many bears escaped. The park held 38 animals, most of them brown bears, and was closed to the public at the time of the escape. Itou told ABC he believed all the animals had been accounted for.
Police had advised area residents and schoolchildren to stay indoors while authorities searched for the loose bears.
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It's a shame when wild animals are put down for doing what wild animals do.
I hate it when that happens.
I'm with you Liz - It has never made sense to me that wild animals are put to death, for being wild!
So sad all the way round :(
When people get used to animals as entertainment, they tend to forget the basic nature of the beast.
Those bears were going to be hungry again in about an hour anyways. It always gets me angry that there is always an excuse not to tranquilize animals. they were enclosed in a zoo with no way to get out of the zoo. they could have tranquilized, and if it didn't work then shoot. even if they have to use dangerous levels of tranquilizers, Its better than killing.
yeah, since the women were already dead, why not let the bears finish their meal? Love animals above humans until it's your hide in jeapordy. Hope they ate the bears...,
Nobody said that, Prosk. Get a grip.
Japanese game show gone horribly wrong. 'NOW YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THE BEAR!!!'
These women were devoting themselves to the welfare of those animals. I expect that they would have thrown themselves in front of the police, crying, "Don't shoot the bears!" if they only could have.
It would be hard to throw one's self in front of anything once the bears ripped one's arms and legs off and ate them.
There are two main reasons for the bears to kill human: the bears were hungry and/or they were threaten/provoked because the workers did not know how to deal with the encounter. I think the bears were hungry because most well feed animals will just want to rest unless they were threaten or driven by the mating desire. I think the zoo should investigate the feeding requirement and train its employees how to deal with bears.
I hope this sets an example to all bears not to try and escape. It's just not worth it.
Revenge of the bears!!!
It's too bad Japan has such strict gun controls. The ladies could have defended themselves.
What a load of nonsense! Even your fellow Americans who were victims of bear attacks didn't carry arms despite your country's loose gun control laws.
But if those Americans would have carried arms, they could have defended themselves.
Perhaps it is time to arm bears.
I know Japanese traditionally live long and healthy lives, but I have to wonder a bit about women in their 60's and 70's working around bears. If the employees assigned to bear feeding had been younger, they may have had a better chance at escape.
My sympathies to the victims and families.
Any bear can outrun any human anytime. And yes, they will chase you up trees.
What is going to do with the carcass of the dead bears? Their palms are worth a fortune.
That's exactly the selfish attitude that leads to poaching and the extinction of animal species. Will chewing on their palms give you an erection or do you have to grind into tea to get your rocks off.
i bet all the killed bears will have missing gallblatters after they got killed !
The group of bears are about 38 and two women fed them without others to watch over their shoulders. The policy of the zoo should have to review. And the other assistants should have weapon on hands for protection.
Or cut down the number of the bears.
It was a grisly scene.
It's a shame when animals kill people and are put down. :( I care more for the animals than my fellow humans. Poor bears.
I could care less about how many intelligent humans were hurt. It's the dumb cuddly food (animals) I care about.
Anyone who loves animals that much, spend a day in a cage with bear or a lion.
They will love you too.
Please.
I can't "bear" to read this sad story.
This would have been a great episode for MXC, I believe the title is right. Japanese doing obstacle courses with English voice overs, one of the funniest shows ever. Too bad about the bears.
Where is Ted Nugent when you need him? These 2 lovely women would have been saved if not for the secret service keeping Ted from doing his duty.
I blame obama!