I live in a rural town surrounded by nature—there are mountains, forests, and rivers nearby. On spring nights, you can hear the sounds of frogs and insects from outside.

In 2024, Japan saw an unusually high number of wild bear sightings across the country, often making the news.
Some bears attacked people or caused damage in towns, becoming a serious problem.
It’s said that the main reasons are an increase in the bear population and a lack of food in the forests, which forced them to wander into human areas.

Actually, there were sightings in my town, too. For about a week, we heard daily public announcements over outdoor speakers giving updates on where the bear had been spotted.
It seemed the bear had wandered off into the neighboring town. My family and I casually joked, “Poor thing, it can’t find its way back home.”

Just a few days ago, there were also two reports of monkey sightings.
The announcements warned us not to provoke the animal, as it could harm people.
I didn’t feel like going to look or taking any action, but I did wonder—shouldn’t the police or the town authorities try to catch it?

Although this is a rural area, there are homes and schools nearby.
By law, firearms can’t be used to capture animals here, so the situation isn’t easy to resolve.
In the end, all we could do was be cautious and watch out for ourselves.

Do wild animals ever appear in your town? Have any of them ever harmed people? When I traveled to the UK, I once saw a squirrel in a tree near my hostel.
Since squirrels aren’t common in the wild in Japan, I was really surprised!
And in Ireland, I spotted a beautiful fox—it was such a lovely sight.

The coexistence of wild animals and humans is still a complicated issue in many parts of the world.