The popular NHK nature program "Darwin's Coming!" (General), which will be broadcast on February 1st, will feature brown bears that have begun to behave in unprecedented ways, under the title "Latest Report: Strange Changes in the Brown Bear Paradise."
The setting for this day's program was the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, a World Heritage Site known as a "paradise for brown bears." Global warming has caused a sharp decline in the number of pink salmon, the brown bears' favorite food, and the rapidly increasing population of Ezo deer is taking over their food supply, causing unprecedented problems.
By following the brown bears, who are facing food shortages, we can see that they have made major changes to their lifestyle, such as climbing 30-meter cliffs and digging in the ground to find food. What is happening now? This is the latest report from this changing "paradise."
Mizuki Kobayashi, director of NHK's Sapporo Broadcasting Station, commented, "The Shiretoko Peninsula has been known as a 'brown bear paradise.' The brown bears that live there are majestic and have a beauty that you could never get tired of watching. However, the environment surrounding the brown bears is now undergoing major changes. Due to the effects of climate change and other factors, the sight of brown bears catching pink salmon, which was once a Shiretoko tradition, is now almost impossible to see. Furthermore, the overpopulation of Ezo deer has caused the brown bears' favorite grass to be eaten, resulting in a drastic decline in their population. Brown bears have shown great adaptability and have survived through these changes with amazing behavior. However, the changes in the environment are progressing to a degree that even this great adaptability cannot overcome. How do we view this situation when we witness brown bears losing their lives, as they are just trying to survive? Every time they appear in human habitations, it becomes a major problem, but what is behind it? I hope that this will be an opportunity to look at the changes currently occurring in Japan, where we live, and to think deeply about them."
