Japanese authorities are tightening precautions after a string of bear incidents in Hokkaido that have ranged from a fatal mauling to crop damage and the disruption of children’s sports training. The alert was first raised on 14 August when a 26-year-old climber from Tokyo was killed by a brown bear on Mt. Rausu in the Shiretoko Peninsula. The attack led officials to close the area’s signature attraction, the Shiretoko Five Lakes boardwalk, until safety checks allowed a partial reopening on 18 August. Fresh encounters followed over the weekend. Around noon on 17 August a bear about 1.2 metres long was spotted beneath the ramp of the Piyashiri ski-jump facility in Nayoro City, forcing the cancellation of an elementary-school training session and prompting police patrols near the mountain venue. Local governments have also shut several parks and issued a prefecture-wide warning after repeated sightings and reports that at least 13 watermelon plots were destroyed by what hunters believe to be a 1.5-metre animal in Esashi Town. Television footage has shown bears roaming residential areas for fruit, underscoring the challenge of keeping wildlife away from human settlements. Officials urge residents and tourists to secure food, travel in groups and carry bells or make noise on trails as bears forage ahead of the autumn hibernation season. Patrols and traps have been stepped up, but the prefecture cautions that further restrictions are possible if sightings continue to rise.