Bear cubs starve due to lack of salmon Italy lowers growth forecast for 2024 to 1.2 percent

In Japan, the offspring of brown bears are at acute risk: a majority of the animals born this year died of hunger because there are hardly any salmon and acorns. This is reported by the Japanese newspaper “The Asahi Shimbun”.

Researchers assume that 70 to 80 percent of the offspring did not survive. “This is a really serious situation,” Masami Yamanaka, a researcher at the Shiretoko Nature Foundation, told the newspaper.

The brown bear population of approximately 500 animals lives on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido in the Shiretoko National Park. In late summer, salmon is their main food source. However, since 2012, researchers have noticed that bears are becoming increasingly thinner because salmon return to the rivers much later or not at all. Some of them are now looking for fish in the sea.

“Some bears have become very thin”

But the bears are dependent on the salmon: many lose weight in the summer anyway because they mainly feed on plants. The salmon helps them gain weight before winter. They usually then retreat to the mountains, fatten themselves on acorns and hibernate. What makes it even harder this year is that there are only a few acorns, Yamanaka says. Recently, brown bears have been attacking people more and more often.

It’s not just researchers who are observing the problem. “Some bears have become very thin and are struggling,” Katsuya Noda, who organizes boat tours in the area, told The Asahi Shimbun. “There are no fish in the rivers, just like last year.” Noda had previously made a discovery that alerted authorities.

During a boat trip, he saw a brown bear desperately looking for food on the coast. The bear tripped over rocks and rummaged through piles of seaweed.