Daisetsu Kogen Onsen Brown Bear Information Center
DAISETSU KOGEN ONSEN BROWN BEAR INFORMATION CENTER
The brown bear is the largest land mammal in Japan.
When hiking in the mountains of Hokkaido, since we humans are encroaching on the brown bears' habitat, an encounter with a brown bear is something that could happen at any time.
And recently, there have been encounters with "urban bears" that appear in human living areas, causing damage to farmland and livestock, and even venturing into cities.
These days, the distance between brown bears and humans is getting much closer. What would you do if you encountered a brown bear...?
This section introduces the hiking trails around the highland hot spring marshes, the routes, and the ecology of the brown bears found on the slopes of Takanegahara.
This article will explain how to deal with an encounter with a brown bear.
What kind of animal is a brown bear? Let's start by learning about brown bears.
• Name: Brown bear (Ezo brown bear / U. arctos )
Habitat: Hokkaido Length: Males…up to approximately 2m, Females…up to approximately 1.5m
Weight: Males...approximately 150-400 kg, Females...100-200 kg
Diet: Omnivorous. The diet of brown bears varies greatly depending on the region and season.
The brown bears observed on the mountain trails around the marshes and on the slopes of Takanegahara (June to August) seem to prefer eating herbaceous plants.
They prefer to eat the roots and lower parts of the stems of skunk cabbage, as well as butterbur and Angelica acutiloba.
They can also occasionally be seen turning over stones and soil to eat ants and other insects. After mid-August, the herbaceous plants on the Takanegahara slopes harden, and the bears move to different feeding grounds in search of nuts and other plants, so the number of brown bears that can be seen on the marshland trails and the Takanegahara slopes decreases sharply and they become less frequently seen.
Furthermore, unlike Shiretoko, brown bears are not seen hunting salmon in the autumn in the inland Daisetsuzan Mountains.
Incidentally, the droppings of brown bears that eat grass have a very pleasant smell, and fresh droppings in particular sometimes smell like matcha green tea.
Characteristics: As the English name "brown bear" suggests, contrary to the image of "bears = black," their fur often has a mix of brown and whitish colors, and the shades vary greatly from individual to individual.
And another thing, each animal has a unique facial expression.
Some individuals have gentle, laid-back faces, while others have fierce-looking faces.
Both males and females live by moving around a lot, but males seem to move around over a wider area.
The male's range of movement is said to extend several hundred square kilometers per year (compared to several tens of square kilometers per year for females), which could easily be considered to encompass the entire Daisetsuzan mountain range.
On the hiking trails around the marshes and the slopes of Takanegahara, you won't see many large, muscular male bears; instead, you'll see many mother bears with their cubs and smaller brown bears that are still growing.
Although they don't have clearly defined territories in their habitat, when observing the brown bears along the swamp-walking course, you'll notice they maintain a good sense of distance from each other, and if you accidentally get too close, one of them will quickly run away.
During the breeding season, males move around a very wide area in search of a mate.
On the other hand, females with offspring tend to keep such males at a distance.
On the slopes of Takanegahara, you can sometimes see a female bear and her cubs foraging when another brown bear suddenly appears, causing them to panic and run away.
Perhaps it was fleeing from a male that came to the Takanegahara slopes in search of a female during the breeding season.
However, it's extremely difficult to tell whether a solitary brown bear is male or female from a distance. Brown bears likely have their own sense of social distancing.
In fact, there are very few brown bears that actively attack humans, and in the Daisetsuzan Mountains, there have been no incidents of brown bears attacking people in the past 50 years.
On the contrary, it is said that many brown bears, like other wild animals, will move away when humans approach, or will quietly hide in bushes where they are not seen, waiting for people to pass by.
Furthermore, on the marshland-hopping course, it seems that sometimes a brown bear will be startled when it encounters a deer, and the bear will run away instead of the deer. It also seems that brown bears can sometimes be startled by Japanese rat snakes.
The brown bears you see on the hiking trails around the marshes and on the slopes of Takanegahara exhibit behavior that is quite different from the typical scary image of brown bears.
・Hibernation: After accumulating plenty of nutrients from summer to late autumn, brown bears hibernate from the end of November to mid-March of the following year, with some individuals hibernating as early as the end of November.
Winter dens are often made on slopes, and many brown bears have several winter dens and seem to remember their locations.
Some individuals dig long, deep burrows and line them with branches and leaves, while others overwinter in shallow holes with half their bodies exposed and covered in snow.
Inside their dens, bears seem to alternate between semi-dormancy and full wakefulness, and females give birth to one to three cubs during hibernation.
As mid-March approaches, it's gradually the season when brown bears begin to awaken.
The males are the first to wake up, followed by the females without cubs, and finally, the mother bears who have given birth are the last to emerge.
Then, in order to strengthen the skin on the soles of their hands and feet that has become softened during hibernation and to restore their muscle strength, they wander around the burrow to get their bodies used to the environment, and once that is done, they gradually begin to move towards the feeding grounds.
- A mother bear and her cub can be seen on the slopes of Takanegahara:
As mentioned above, mother bears and their cubs can frequently be seen on the slopes of Takanegahara, which are often feeding grounds for brown bears, as well as on the hiking trails around the marshes.
We don't know the exact reason why so many mother bears and their cubs gather on the Takanegahara slopes, but around mid-June, when the brown bear information center opens, they appear seeking the small patches of fresh green grass that begin to appear amidst the remaining snow on the trails. For over a month, these mothers and their cubs can be seen roaming the Takanegahara slopes and the area around the Shirakumo Hut. The groups vary, from mother bears with tiny cubs born during hibernation to mothers accompanied by cubs in their second year. The cubs run around, slide down the snowfields and grasslands, and wrestle, while their mothers watch over them. The families eat together. The sight of these families behaving just like humans is truly heartwarming, and we can't help but hope that this scene will continue in the Daisetsuzan Mountains forever.
I sincerely hope the bear cubs will grow up healthy and strong until the time comes when they can leave their mothers.
This is a young individual. Its gentle expression is striking.
The mother bear. Her physique is certainly sturdy.
But there was also a gentleness in the expression as he watched over the cub.
A single individual.
Is this a male that came from far away?
His shoulder muscles look very strong and muscular.
A mother bear and her cub foraging on the slopes of Takanegahara.
A yearling cub and its mother run across the snow-covered slopes of Takanegahara.
Two-year-old bear cubs play together a short distance away from their mother who is foraging.
First, to avoid encountering a brown bear...
When engaging in outdoor activities such as mountain climbing and hiking in Hokkaido, one must be mindful of the presence of brown bears.
While it's understandable to be concerned about potential accidents that could occur when encountering a brown bear, the most important thing to avoid an encounter with a brown bear is to avoid encountering one in the first place.
To address this, we will introduce what you can do and how to deal with encountering a brown bear, based on the experiences of a patrol officer at the Brown Bear Information Center who has actually had a close encounter with a brown bear.
★ The information below is for reference only and is not intended to help you avoid encountering brown bears or to guarantee 100% protection if you do encounter one.
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◆TOPIC: How often do accidents involving brown bears actually occur?◆
~Personal injury incidents involving brown bears~ As of September 2025
・Period: 1962 to August 2025 ・Location: All of Hokkaido ・Number of cases: 161 ▶ Injured → 122 people ▶ Deaths → 61 people
Based on the statistics above , most accidents occur during the culling or hunting of brown bears, but a significant number also occur while people are gathering wild vegetables or mushrooms. These accidents tend to be sudden encounters in areas with poor visibility, such as forests and thickets . It should be noted that there have been no human casualties in the Daisetsuzan Mountains for over 50 years.
During the period in question, there were 7 deaths and 4 injuries from bear attacks while hiking. For details, please click here.
1. First, let's walk while paying close attention to our surroundings!
When you're walking on a mountain trail, especially in a forest where visibility is limited, your gaze tends to gradually drop and you end up looking only at your feet, right?
But sometimes, if you're only looking at your feet, you might suddenly realize a brown bear is right beside you!
You might see ears peeking out from among the bamboo thickets, or their backs visible among the clusters of skunk cabbage.
When walking on hiking trails, including the marshland hiking course, always keep an eye out for bears, as they might be lurking somewhere.
Let's do that. If you look around, you'll probably notice not only the sight of the brown bear, but also traces such as footprints, feeding marks, and droppings.
On the hiking trails around the marshes, patrol staff have marked such traces, so please try to find them.
And don't just look; pay attention to the sounds around you. A bear's large body moving in the bushes will naturally make a considerable amount of noise.
Yes, such sounds are also important clues that indicate the presence of a bear. Incidentally, this is not only for the presence of brown bears, but also during patrols of the course.
Actually, more often than not, I hear a rustling sound, turn around, and it turns out to be a deer...
When observing the brown bears that can be seen on the mountain trails around the marshes and in the vicinity of Takanegahara, many of the bears will approach when they see or sense a human presence.
Many bears tend to run away, and bear bells seem to be effective against them. First, look around carefully as you walk.
We also recommend carrying a bear bell.
However, simply wearing a bear bell doesn't guarantee safety. Please note that the effectiveness of bear bells is reduced in the following locations.
- If you are far away from a brown bear... Brown bears are said to have good hearing, but if you are far away, even if they can hear the sound of the bell, they may not know where the sound is coming from.
Sometimes they look around nervously, unsure of what's going on.
If you spot a bear in the distance or ahead of you, use your bell and shout loudly to let the brown bears know you are
One method is to let them know your location.
- When walking along a stream... When walking along a stream, the sound of the bell will be drowned out by the sound of the flowing water.
A patrol officer had an experience where he unexpectedly encountered a brown bear after climbing up a slope along a stream...
There was a Huff there too. That's pretty scary...
To prevent such incidents, when walking along stream beds, ring your bell louder than usual, and shout louder in areas with poor visibility.
Please walk carefully.
Also, if you encounter a brown bear at very close range (within 20m), ringing a bell in front of it may be perceived as a threatening act by the bear.
Please avoid it as there is a possibility of this happening.
A brown bear foraging in a cluster of skunk cabbage plants.
Recently, bear bells that can be silenced when needed (left) have also become available.
2. Bear bells are effective!
3. Absolutely do not throw away food or trash!
Brown bears have an extremely keen sense of smell. Their sense of smell is said to be 6 to 8 times stronger than a dog's, allowing them to easily find food buried in the ground.
Yes . And it is often said that they are animals with high learning ability.
If something is found there, it will remember the taste and stay in the same place. This increases the risk on mountain trails.
This leads to ...
And this poses a risk not only to humans, but also to brown bears .
If a brown bear becomes accustomed to what humans give it and becomes accustomed to humans, and leaves the Daisetsuzan National Park, which is a wildlife sanctuary, and approaches human living areas...
What would happen if that happened...?
Outside of wildlife sanctuaries, brown bears that approach human settlements or do not flee from humans are easily hunted and are at risk of being caught.
there is.
Even if unintentional, leaving human food in brown bear habitats is detrimental to both brown bears and humans.
We must keep the risks firmly in mind.
Please note that on the marshland hiking course, the places where you can eat are limited to three locations (Midori Marsh, Daigaku Marsh, and Kogen Marsh), and the types of food you can eat are also restricted.
We have restrictions in place (such as not allowing strongly scented instant noodles or cooked meals).
Leftover rice ball found in the university swamp
What if you encounter a brown bear?
4. First, stay calm and do not provoke the brown bear.
It may be difficult to remain calm if you spot a brown bear, but if you have a reasonable distance between you, there's no need to panic, and in most cases, the bears will move away on their own. If you have enough distance from the bear and know which direction it's heading, keep an eye on it and maintain your distance.
In that situation, avoid running away .
Running could provoke the brown bear and cause it to chase you.
Furthermore, even if you encounter a brown bear at close range, it will often avoid you and move away, just like other wild animals.
Even if it's a close encounter, the first thing to do is not panic.
In particular, ringing bells or shouting loudly at very close range (within 20 meters) is considered a threatening behavior by brown bears and is strictly prohibited.
First, try to stay as calm as possible, and keep your eyes on the brown bear while maintaining a safe distance.
The photo on the right shows a brown bear encountered by a patrol staff member during a marsh walk, at a distance of approximately 30 meters. In this instance, the bear recognized the patrol staff member and moved away from them.
The distance was 30 meters. After this, the brown bear saw the patrol officer and walked away on its own.
5. Be careful of mother bears and their cubs.
Like other wild animals, brown bear cubs are incredibly cute, but of course, approaching them is strictly forbidden!
Brown bear mothers give birth to their cubs in their hibernation dens during the winter. Newborn cubs weigh less than 500 grams, lighter than a single plastic bottle.
When they emerge from their den after overwintering, they weigh about 5 kg, but they still look quite small compared to their mother. These young bear cubs are truly adorable.
After that, the cub will stay with its mother for about 1.5 to 2.5 years. During this time, the mother bear is likely to become aggressive in order to protect her offspring, so if you see a mother bear and cub while hiking or doing other outdoor activities, no matter how cute the cub may be, never approach them and keep your distance before leaving.
6. Intimidating Charge = Bluff Charge
The Takanegahara slopes are a gathering place for mother bears and their cubs.
Brown bears have a threatening behavior called a bluff charge.
This is a message saying, "Don't come any closer!"
The animal makes a threatening charge, then changes direction just before reaching a person and leaves; it is not a direct attack on a person.
If a brown bear were to suddenly charge at you, you'd probably panic, but please keep in mind that this kind of behavior exists.
However, to avoid such a situation, your top priority should be to look around carefully and make your presence known by ringing a bell or calling out to others. Even if you encounter a brown bear at close range, slowly back away while observing its movements.
A patrol officer from the Brown Bear Information Center once encountered a brown bear at close range while on patrol and was subjected to this threatening charge. At the time, the officer was climbing up a stream bed, where the sound of his bell couldn't be heard, and visibility was poor. He came face to face with the bear at the top of the climb. The officer rang his bell at close range, which the bear apparently took as a threat, causing it to charge at the officer before changing direction and descending back down the stream bed. Furthermore, since the bear didn't leave the stream bed, the officer looked around and saw a cub climbing a tree... It was an accident that occurred due to a combination of unfortunate conditions: a place where it was difficult to hear, poor visibility, and a mother bear and her cub.
The staff at the brown bear information center have only experienced this threatening charge once before. We hope that such a situation will never happen again, but it's good to remember that brown bears have this kind of behavior.
7. What if a brown bear attacks...?
No matter how careful you are to avoid encountering brown bears, you are still intruding on their territory . It's impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of an unexpected encounter. And as long as you're hiking in the mountains, you can't completely eliminate the possibility of being attacked by a brown bear during such an unexpected encounter.
Recently, in North America, as well as here in Daisetsuzan and Shiretoko, a recommended defensive posture in case of a brown bear attack is to lie face down on the ground with your backpack still on, cover your neck with your hands, spread your legs, and brace yourself on the ground with your toes. This is a recommended defensive posture to prevent fatal injuries to the neck, back, and back of the head ( it seems that in fatal accidents in Hokkaido, these areas have been the cause of death).
Carrying commercially available bear repellent spray is also considered effective, but neither guarantees 100% personal safety.
defensive posture.
With the backpack still on, he lies face down, covering his neck and the back of his head with his hands. His legs are spread apart and firmly planted on the ground.
Commercially available bear spray. Carry it with you, attaching it to your belt or something similar with a holder so you can use it immediately. It's pointless to just carry it around in your backpack.
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