The Fate of the 'Ninja Bear' That Killed 32 Cows in Japan... Ending Up as Charcoal-Grilled Meat on the Table

'Terrifying Fire Bear' Shot by Local Hunter
Sold as Bear Meat Dish at Tokyo Restaurant

A terrifying brown bear that attacked 66 dairy cows and killed 32 of them over the past four years in the mountainous region of Hokkaido, Japan, was finally shot dead.

According to Japan's Sankei Shimbun on the 6th, the brown bear that had terrorized local dairy farmers by attacking free-range dairy cows over four years was shot dead by a local hunter near a ranch in Kushiro Town, Kushiro District, Hokkaido, around 5 a.m. on July 30.

The code-named 'OSO18' brown bear, notorious for attacking 66 dairy cows in Hokkaido, Japan.
[Photo by Shibecha Town]

The brown bear was a male measuring 2.1 meters in length and weighing 330 kilograms. From July 2019 until this summer, it attacked 66 free-range dairy cows in eastern Hokkaido’s Kawakami District, Shibecha Town, Akkeshi Town, and other areas, killing 32 of them.

Local farmers called this bear the "Most Evil (最凶)" and the "Ninja Bear."

As the damage escalated, Hokkaido authorities even assigned the bear the codename "OSO18" to track it, but due to its strong wariness and agility, every capture attempt failed.

The codename OSO18 combines the name of the area where the bear’s attacks first occurred (Shibecha Town Osotsubetsu) and the 18 cm width of the bear’s footprint.

DNA analysis of the bear shot this time, compared with DNA from bear hair found in past affected areas, confirmed on the 18th of last month that this bear was indeed OSO18. The bear was estimated to be over 10 years old.

Bear meat dish sold at 'Amakarakumakara,' a game meat specialty restaurant in Ningyocho, Tokyo, Japan. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Amakarakumakara]

The bear’s carcass was butchered around the 20th of last month, and its meat was sold as bear meat and served as charcoal-grilled dishes at restaurants in Tokyo.

"Amakarakumakara," a hunting cuisine specialty restaurant in Tokyo’s Ningyocho, plans to serve the remaining OSO18 meat as a traditional Hokkaido hot pot dish to customers starting mid-September. A restaurant official told Sankei, "Reservations for September are almost fully booked. Although this bear killed many cows, we want to offer customers the opportunity to enjoy its delicious meat."

Local dairy farmers, who had been living in fear for years, are now relieved that they can freely graze their cows without worry.