Tokyo, Japan

Brown bear cubs are in a dire state and around 10 have died so far this year due to salmon shortage in a remote part of northern Japan, media reports said. Experts have blamed global warming and subsequent rising sea temperatures because of the climate crisis. 

Advertisment

The Shiretoko area, the easternmost portion of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, was designated by UNESCO in 2005 and it became a World Heritage Site.

At that time, UNESCO hoped that Shiretoko and the Kuril Islands (in Russian Federation) would jointly become a transboundary "World Heritage Peace Park" but it didn't happen. 

The issue was reported after officials weighed in on the images captured from a tour boat off the coast on September 19.

Advertisment

The images showed a starving brown bear swimming on the beach, scrounging through washed-ashore seaweed and desperately looking for food. 

Also read: Prominent crocodile expert pleads guilty of 'sadistic sexual interest' in animals, particularly dogs 

Katsuya Noda, the tour boat operator, told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun: "Some bears have grown really thin. They are having a tough time, because there are no fish in the rivers, just like last year." 

Advertisment

Pink salmon and acorns are among the essential food sources in late summer for the approximately 500 brown bears that inhabit the region known for its dramatic coastline and wild animals. 

Pink salmon hatch in rivers and return to streams after spending the winter in the sea to lay eggs between August and October.

They eventually become the source of food for the brown bears. But because of climate change and its impact, the bears have been forced to swim in the sea because of the shortage of river fish. 

Also read: Over 250 mysterious fairy circles spotted from space spread across 3 continents 

A report by The Guardian mentioned that experts have noted that sea surface temperatures off Hokkaido remained above 20C from mid-July to early August 2021, which was alarmingly 5C higher than average for that time of the year. 

According to the researchers at Hokkaido University, seawater temperature around the island will rise by up to 10C in the 2090s if the global heating continues at its current rate. 

Masami Yamanaka, who is a researcher at the Shiretoko Nature Foundation, told the Japanese newspaper that the health of brown bear cubs has deteriorated because of the lack of salmon, combined with a poor acorn harvest. 

As quoted, Yamanaka said: "An estimated 70% to 80% of the cubs born this year are dead. It’s a really serious situation." 

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.