New Zealand man describes how he survived face-off with black bear in Japan
Billy Halloran, a runner from New Zealand, narrowly survived a bear attack in the Myoko forests of Japan earlier this month.
Mr Halloran, 32, who frequently jogs and hikes in the wooded area – and has even run ultramarathons there – encountered two Asiatic black bears while on a trail in Niigata prefecture.
As he cautiously stepped back, one of the bears advanced towards him. “It was around my size, it was an adult, it was at least 60 or 70 kilos,” he told CNN.
The attack left Halloran with severe injuries to an arm and leg. “I could see it was going to lunge at me – and it did.”
When he held up his arm in front of his face to shield himself, the bear grabbed it and “I got pushed to the ground”, he recollected. “Then in one bite, my arm was done.”
The bear also clawed his leg before retreating into the woods. “I was screaming a lot, in fight or flight, thinking, ‘This is it,’” he told Radio New Zealand.
His leg was bleeding and his arm was “fully snapped”, hanging at an unnatural angle and held together only by his rain jacket, according to the outlet.
In spite of the pain, Mr Halloran ran nearly a kilometre to meet his wife and wait for an ambulance.
Since the attack in early October, Mr Halloran has had three surgeries, including a hip graft to replace bone bitten off by the bear and the insertion of metal plates in his arm.
He hopes to be discharged by late October.
“I haven’t been brave enough to look at it yet,” he told Radio New Zealand, referring to his arm. “It’s hard to think back on that moment.”
Japan has seen a surge in bear attacks this year that have left over 100 people injured and at least seven killed, the highest figures since record-keeping began in 2006.
Last week, a black bear wandered into a supermarket in Gunma prefecture’s Numata city and attacked two men, while another swiped at a Spanish tourist waiting at a bus stop in Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture.
According to some experts, bear attacks usually rise in autumn before hibernation, but climate change and a shortage of their usual beech nut food may be pushing them into towns.
