A Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force member was attacked by a bear on Wednesday at a training ground in northeastern Japan, leaving him with non-fatal injuries, according to local GSDF officials.
The attack occurred when the GSDF member in his 30s was checking an area where a dry leaf fire had broken out in a maneuver area straddling Nishigo and Tenei villages in Fukushima Prefecture.
He suffered bites to his right arm and left wrist and was taken to a hospital, they said.
According to officials at GSDF Camp Fukushima and the local fire department, the fire broke out Wednesday morning during an 81-millimeter mortar firing exercise. The blaze was extinguished Thursday morning after burning 16 hectares of land, including a wooded area within the training ground.
© KYODO
