How Japan is confronting its deadly bear crisis | December 16, 2025

What's up, sunshine? I'm Koi Wire.

Welcome to CNN 10, where we tell you the what, letting you decide what to think.

Got a lot of stories to get to, not a lot of time to do it. So, let's get to it. We begin in Japan, where the

it. We begin in Japan, where the military has been deployed to help with a spate of dangerous bear attacks. At

least 13 people have been killed. More

than 200 injured since just April of this year. That's the highest numbers on

this year. That's the highest numbers on record. But hunters on the front lines

record. But hunters on the front lines of the crisis say that they saw this problem coming. They point to a changing

problem coming. They point to a changing climate and habitat loss as key factors.

Our Haneko Montgomery has more.

>> Among Japan's frosted thicket lies an animal. One so feared it makes humans

animal. One so feared it makes humans feel like prey.

This year, at least 13 people have died in Japan from bear attacks. More than

200 have also been injured.

Embassies are even warning its citizens to beware the bears. The panic so widespread that people are now sheltering indoors.

It's a problem these hunters say they saw coming for years.

>> If the government had taken this seriously earlier, it wouldn't have gotten this bad. It's nonsense that they're responding now only after things have escalated.

To respond to this crisis, Japan has deployed troops to the front lines. But

because the country's self-defense forces are legally only allowed to use their firearms for national defense, they can't exterminate wild animals.

They can only provide logistical support, like laying down traps, leaving the actual calling to local hunters.

>> Haru Ikigami has called bears for over four decades.

At 76, he still visits his traps every morning to see what the knights brought in.

>> How serious is this problem getting?

>> People are dead. This is a murder case.

>> Today, Ikigami's traps yield nothing.

>> Bad news for a local fruit farmer whose crops were destroyed just days earlier.

The furry suspect leaving behind a trail of evidence.

>> It's impossible to coexist with the beers. One blow from them and you're

beers. One blow from them and you're finished.

>> To Iami, the reason behind the increased attacks is simple. Too many bears and not enough hunters. While Japan's bear population has doubled in the past few

decades, hunters, like much of Japan, are aging and disappearing.

>> But experts say these attacks are only increasing now, partly because of climate change. With less fruit and nuts

climate change. With less fruit and nuts in the wild, they prowl city centers instead for their next meal.

More and more local governments in Japan are having to simulate these bear drills. And today the scenario is that a

drills. And today the scenario is that a bear has been spotted at some school grounds and the police have been called in. Local hunters have also been called

in. Local hunters have also been called in and right now they're just deciding whether or not they're going to actually cull the bear.

>> After failing to scare the bear away, they settle on the last resort.

>> Japan's demographic crisis also means rural towns. Once buffers separating the

rural towns. Once buffers separating the bear's habitat from cities are emptying out, making it easier for bears to cross into inhabited areas.

Japan's first response is blunt. Kill

bears that cross the red line. But

animal rights groups plead for different solutions.

To keep bears at bay, Hiro Tamatani and his group try several methods, like using dogs to scare off the animals.

Instead of culling, they capture and tranquilize the bears, then insert chips to track their location.

>> What do you think about the Japanese government's solution to cull more bears?

>> Rather than just trying to reduce the number of bears, I think it's important to identify which bears pose a serious threat and respond specifically to those

individual bears.

>> This is an ancient fight for survival.

But as Japan scrambles to find solutions that are fast and fair, more lives, human and animal alike, will likely pay the price. Now to Brazil,

where a beautiful yet bittersweet natural phenomenon is underway in Rio de Janeiro. The city's landscape has been

Janeiro. The city's landscape has been transformed by blooming talapot palm trees, which flower only one time before their death. The towering palms can

their death. The towering palms can reach heights of more than 60 feet and can take up to 80 years to produce a singular bloom. The trees are native to

singular bloom. The trees are native to India and Sri Lanka, but were introduced to Brazil in the 1960s by renowned landscape architect Roberto Berle Marx.

The spectacle last occurred in 2010, and it could be decades before it happens here again. But death isn't the end for

here again. But death isn't the end for these towering palms. The trees in the city's botanical gardens will be cut at the base once they die, enabling new seedlings to rise and continue the cycle

for future generations.

10 second trivia. What is the deepest lake in the world? Lake Ontario, Lake Victoria, Lake Ball, or Lake Tangana?

If you said Ball, your knowledge is deep. Located in Russia's Siberia

deep. Located in Russia's Siberia region, Lake Bol is not only the world's deepest lake at nearly 5,400 ft, but also the largest freshwater lake by

volume. Its surface area is larger than

volume. Its surface area is larger than the country of Belgium. Speaking of

Siberia, stunning new video shows the moment fishermen spotted dozens of helpless deer stranded on a frozen lake.

This time of year, snow over the icy ground and frozen lakes typically allows wildlife to trekk across the landscape without much difficulty. But a brief period of unseasonably mild temperatures

meant the surface snow melted and became extremely slippery. Exhausted and unable

extremely slippery. Exhausted and unable to get back on their feet, the deer faced freezing to death or harming themselves while attempting to escape.

At first attempt to rescue the deer, the fishermen first carried the deer to shore, then use sleds to pull them to safety. Question for you. What do a

safety. Question for you. What do a wedding dress, a prosthetic leg, and a cooked frog have in common? This is not a setup to a joke. It's a list of things that have actually been lost aboard

trains and buses in London's massive transit system. The peculiar possessions

transit system. The peculiar possessions are just a fraction of the nearly 6,000 items that wind up in the Transport for London lost property warehouse every week. The massive facility stores

week. The massive facility stores thousands of lost items from umbrellas to urns in an effort to reunite them with their owners. Take a look inside.

>> So this section is our famous umbrellas.

These are the long umbrellas this time.

So, um this is lost property office for transport for London. And we receive items that have been lost on um transport for London's modal system.

That's from London Overground, London Underground, um Elizabeth Line, Cross Rail, DLR, and Black Taxi Cabs. Okay. So when the items

um are lost, they'll hopefully end up here um if someone hands it in. And what

we do, we input it, put it into our system, and collect as much information regarding the item. So if you do inquire about it, we'll try and match the item and return it to you. In this room, we

keep all u mobile phones, as you can see the mobile phones here. The red ones is for black taxi cabs because, as you know, that's part of your fail transport

as well. Um over here we have laptops,

as well. Um over here we have laptops, mobile phones and um iPads and basically um because of the lift when batteries.

So this room stays around 19° all time.

If the items are not found within the um 3 months, we um basically put all those items together and decide if it should go to auction or charity. This area is

one of my favorite areas. It's items

that we've kept for longer than 3 months, some as long as World War II.

One of the items I really like to look at is the um stuffed puffer fish. Um cuz

it's just unbelievable. I mean, you can't even hold it. And how they got here, I don't know. That's actually one of our oldest items. It's probably more

than 40 45 years old.

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A

daddy daughter dance that will melt our hearts. At the Louisiana State

hearts. At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola Prison, dozens of incarcerated fathers were reunited with their daughters for a firstofits-kind event. Dads wore

firstofits-kind event. Dads wore tuxedos, many for the first time, and daughters ages 5 to 20 got ready with the help of volunteer makeup artists and

stylists who donated their time and supplies. The event reunited 29 fathers

supplies. The event reunited 29 fathers and 37 daughters for a few hours and offered families some unique bonding time that they rarely get.

>> This moment right here today, soak it in. I pray that we get many more of

in. I pray that we get many more of these moments, but we don't know how many we have.

>> They're my world. That mean everything.

The reason I keep going every day in this place. The reason I fight to get

this place. The reason I fight to get out of here. It won't make up for the past time, but it's having our future.

Missed every single event in my little girl's life. I mean, missed her first

girl's life. I mean, missed her first steps, her first words. When she was younger, I love you, daddy is something that I just I rarely or hardly ever heard.

>> I love you, Mary.

>> Missing all of that affected me, but what it affected most is her. and to have this day and be able

is her. and to have this day and be able to share this moment together.

It's just it's it's going to be magical.

I just want her feel the love and just have a good time and smile. If you want to hear more about this inspiring story, be sure to check out our friends over at CNN's Five Good Things podcast. All

right, superstars, I've got one shout out for you today. We are sending some love to our friends at Crested But Community School in Colorado. Thank you

for watching us from almost 9,000 ft above Sea Livo. Go on out, make someone smile today. You are more powerful than

smile today. You are more powerful than you know. I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN

you know. I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.