TOKYO (Sept. 20) — A bear injured nine people at a highway rest stop in central Japan before being shot dead in a souvenir shop, a firefighter said Sunday.
The black bear seriously injured four men Saturday afternoon in Nyukawa, a small mountain town about 140 miles west of Tokyo, said firefighter Tomohiko Akano.
Skip over this content
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=624098&pid=624097&uts=1253472978
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Animals in the News
A bear attacked and injured nine people -- four of them seriously -- at a highway rest stop in central Japan Saturday, an official said. The four-foot animal was later trapped inside a souvenir shop, where panic ensued. A hunter eventually shot it dead. Reports said the attack lasted about an hour and all of the victims were expected to survive.
AP
AP
The 4-foot animal came down a mountain path and attacked people at a bus parking lot. One tourist tried to beat the animal back with a stick, but the bear retaliated and seriously injured the man, the Examiner.com reported.
According to reports cited by the Examiner, several employees at a nearby souvenir shop tried to help the injured man, but were also wounded by the bear. The animal eventually entered a lodge where it was trapped in the souvenir shop. Panic ensued but the animal was cornered and shot dead by a hunter, according to media reports.
No one suffered life-threatening injuries in the attack, which lasted about an hour, reports said.
A photograph from the scene showed the bear mauling a prone person in a parking lot while a man attempted to scare it off.
The rest stop is on a mountainous road that is open during summer months only to licensed buses and taxis. The area is frequented by tourists for its scenic views.
Skip over this content
Akano said bear attacks are very rare in the area.
