Officials in Japan believe a missing fisherman was mauled and decapitated by a bear after a human head was discovered near a lake.
Toshihiro Nishikawa, 54, was last seen early Sunday when a boat dropped him off on Lake Shumarinai in Hokkaido, the Kyodo news agency reported.
A boat operator later saw a large brown bear nearby with waders hanging out of its mouth.
When they called Nishikawa to warn him, there was no answer, the outlet said.
A bear hunt launched by the city subsequently found a human head, as well as one bear that was killed by members of the group on Monday.
Police are investigating whether the decapitated head belongs to Nishikawa.
The public broadcaster NHK reported that Japan has seen a spike in bear sightings recently.
Hokkaido is one of the most common spots for humans to come face to face with the intimidating creatures.26
“Perhaps the main one is that the bear population of Hokkaido has recovered after years of over-hunting and as there are simply fewer hunters now,” Kevin Short, a naturalist and professor at Tokyo University of Information Studies, told the South China Morning Post of the uptick.
“The deer population has also recovered, which is a key food source, while there have also been efforts across the prefecture to restore natural habitats in woodlands and along rivers, all of which increases the bears’ range.”