OSO18, the King of Red Bear
OSO18, the King of Red Bear
OSO18 (ca. 2008-2012 - July 30, 2023) is
the code name for one male brown bear that was attacking livestock
(dairy cows) from 2019 to 2023 in the area of Shibecha-cho and
Atsugishi-cho, Kawakami County, eastern Hokkaido.
Named for the place in Shibecha-cho Shimo-Osotsubetsu where the damage
occurred in broad daylight with the only human sighting in July 2019,
and for the width of its paws, which are 18 cm.
The total number of cattle believed to have been attacked by OSO18 in
Shibecha and Atsugishi-cho from 2019 to the end of June 2023 is
estimated to be 66 in total, 32 of which were killed based on DNA
analysis of body hair left behind. Only three photos were taken
automatically at night and one color photo taken in June 2023. The
hunters estimated their route of action from the footprints and
ambushed them in the morning and evening, but were unable to capture
them. The hunters were described as cautious, as if they knew about the
Bird Protection Law (which prohibits the firing of hunting rifles at
night). They target grazing cattle, but since the beginning of 2022,
their attack sites are getting closer to barns and homes.
In the case of the July 2022 attack, the bear ate the entrails of the
killed cattle on the spot and dragged them to a stream about 100m away
the next morning to eat the meat as well, showing the unique habit of
brown bears that are obsessed with food.
On June 25, 2023, the first daytime color photo was successfully taken
in a town-owned forest in Shibecha, and DNA typing of body hairs
determined that the individual in the photo was OSO18. The body size
analyzed from the photo is approximately 2.2 m in length and 1.2 m in
height, which is almost consistent with the previously assumed body
size. Hokkaido had aimed to capture the animal unattended using traps,
as there was a high possibility that it would be detected and run away
when shot by hunters, but it was exterminated by hunters (employees of
the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Division of the Kushiro Town
Office) on July 30, 2023, at a farm in the town of Kushiro in the
Kushiro District and widely reported on August 21, 2023. The Kushiro
Regional Promotion Bureau also announced on August 22 of the same year
that it had confirmed that it was the same individual as OSO18. The
hunter who exterminated the animal tried to stuff the head as a
souvenir, but was unable to do so because the skull had been
dismembered by bullets. Part of the body was distributed as edible
meat, and was served as charcoal-grilled meat at a gibier restaurant in
Tokyo, processed by a meat processing company in Shiranuka-cho,
Shiranuka-gun, Hokkaido, and served as miso stew at a gibier restaurant
in Kushiro City on the evening of August 24, and as bear meat on some
Internet shopping sites.
https://www.deepl.com/ja/translator
+++
Links
Bibliography
other information
