The suspect victim of a bear was killed by a son, police say

The Japanese police said an elderly man who was believed to have been killed by a bear was actually stabbed to death by his son.

51-year-old Fujiuki Shindo was arrested in the prefecture of northern Akita on Tuesday for being claimed to have killed his 93-year-old father Fujiyoshi, local media reports.

Police sent a warning mail to attack a bear after the victim’s wife found him collapse and bleed on the floor. But he was withdrawn after investigators concluded that the wounds were more complained about the knife injuries.

Bear bears are increasingly common in northern Japan, where the aging population and shrinking agricultural lands have meant that animals expand their habitat closer to the human population.

G -N Shindo, who lived with his parents, had initially told police that he did not notice anything unusual at home during the attack, Kyodo News reported.

Investigators seized several knives from the home of the family and tried to identify the weapon of murder, Jiji Press reported.

They did not give a motive for the murder.

It was initially assumed that bears were to blame for the death of Fujioshi Shindo because in recent years Japan has observed a growing number of bears’ attacks. In the 12th months to March 2024, a record 219 people were attacked by bears – and six of them were killed, Japan’s Ministry of Environment said.

In July, a newspaper supplier was killed by a brown bear in a residential area.

Increasing bears’ meetings also prompted the authorities to allocate hunting laws to make it easier for people to shoot bears.

Thousands of bears were recently trapped and killed by hunters.