Investigators have learned more about the August brown bear attack in Japan that killed a hiker — thanks to location and biometric data recovered from his GPS smartwatch.
The man, identified by NHK as 26-year-old Sota Keisuke, was hiking on Mount Rausu in Japan’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 14 when a brown bear attacked him and dragged him into the forest.
A search party was sent out the next day after a friend who was with him reported the attack. Searchers first found items believed to belong to him — including a piece of clothing and his wallet — before locating him later that afternoon. Keisuke was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities later recovered Keisuke’s GPS watch, and the data helped reconstruct what may have happened. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the watch shows it left the main Mount Rausu trail and moved down a forested slope around 11 a.m. local time on Aug. 14.
The data then indicated sudden shaking, followed by repeated circling over the same point in thick brush. The outlet reported that the watch also recorded a time when the man’s heart stopped, suggesting he died roughly 109 to 142 yards from the trail.
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The watch remained in one spot overnight, but moved again around 9 a.m. the following morning, traveling several hundred yards through dense vegetation — which, according to the Asahi Shimbun, could indicate the bear returned and dragged the body farther.
The outlet also reported that a search-and-rescue team encountered a mother bear dragging Keisuke’s body while two cubs were nearby. All three bears were killed at the scene. Additional traces of the man’s remains were reportedly found in an earth mound about 109 yards from where the bears were shot.
Keisuke’s body was taken back to the Shari Police Station in Hokkaido, where his parents identified him. Police reportedly advised them to look only at his face due to the severity of his injuries.
After the incident, authorities closed the mountain trail, The Japan Times reported.
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Officials from the Hokkaido prefectural government said the Aug. 14 attack was the first recorded bear attack in the Shiretoko Mountain Range — which includes Mount Rausu — in 63 years, according to The Japan News.
More broadly, bear encounters have been rising across Japan. Since April, at least 13 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in bear attacks nationwide, according to Al Jazeera, citing an October report from the Ministry of Environment.
