NIIGATA (TR) – A bear wandered onto a highway in Itoigawa City on Saturday and shut down traffic for five hours until it was shot dead by a hunter, the Sankei Shimbun reported on Saturday (Nov. 5).
Police received reports of a 1.5-meter-long Asian black bear that was sighted on the Hokuriku Expressway at an interchange bordering Niigata and Toyama prefectures at around 2 p.m.
The bear remained calm in an area near an emergency road phone, but was shot dead by a hunter after it wandered onto a road at around 7:30 p.m.
Authorities considered deploying a trap for the bear but ultimately decided to have it put down, TV Asahi reported.
All traffic was suspended on the road until past 8 p.m., traffic police said.
