Oct. 8 (UPI) — A bear walked into a grocery store in northern Japan and attacked two customers Tuesday, the latest in a series of bear attacks in the country.
The two injured men, one inside and one outside the store in Numata, were ages 69 and 76. They had minor injuries.
The attack happened at about 7:30 p.m. JST in the city that’s about 80 miles north of Tokyo. Numata is in a mountainous area.
The bear species hasn’t been announced, but it stood at about four-and-a-half feet tall. About 40 people were in the store at the time.
Police warned nearby residents to stay indoors and be cautious.
A store manager said he encountered the bear during the incident.
“It looked to me as if the bear was confused. It was in the store for 10 to 15 minutes. It didn’t look like it was foraging,” Japan Wire reported he said.
“It seemed like it had entered the store, wanted to leave but couldn’t, and then became agitated,” CNN reported he said.
Deaths from bear attacks in Japan are at an all-time high this year at 7.
CNN reported that experts say bears are wandering into urban areas in search of food because climate change is taking away some of their food sources.
