Bears have become a “serious threat to public safety and peace” in Japan, with bear incidents and casualties reaching unprecedented levels in fiscal 2025, the government said in an annual report released Friday.According to the 2026 environment white paper, adopted at the day’s Cabinet meeting, and other government data, the number of bear sightings across the country exceeded 50,000 and that of those injured or killed by the wild animal came to 238 in the year that ended in March.To cope with the bear threat, the government has allowed local municipalities involved to shoot bears in residential areas when urgently necessary since September last year.