곰과 인간의 위태로운 공존: 방수포 아래의 아찔한 구조와 멈추지 않는 갈등 > K-wave Trends

The bear capture incident in Sahuarita, Arizona, exposed the dilemma between the speed of rescue and safety. Police and wildlife authorities used a tarp to catch a bear as it lost consciousness in a tree after being tranquilized. However, the moment the bear fell, the rescue team holding the tarp struggled under the immense weight, leading to a dizzying situation where one officer fell on top of the bear. Although the bear was successfully rescued and transported to a safe location, the public voiced sharp criticism regarding the lack of professionalism in the rescue process and the potential for secondary accidents.

In contrast, the situation in Japan is moving beyond the realm of rescue into the realm of survival. In the Tohoku region, despite repeated incidents of residents being attacked and killed by bears while foraging for wild vegetables, many continue to insist on hiking, relying only on firecrackers for self-defense. This goes beyond simple complacency; it is deeply intertwined with local culture—foraging that has spanned generations—and the practical issue of livelihood. While local governments earnestly appeal for people to refrain from entering the mountains, administrative limitations regarding private property rights and the guarantee of livelihoods make even mandatory control difficult.

As the range of bear activity expands from the mountains into urban centers, public safety is increasingly threatened. In Utsunomiya, Japan, after more than 40 reports of bears appearing in the heart of the city were received, the city authorities eventually ordered the temporary closure of 94 elementary and junior high schools. This suggests that bears are no longer creatures of the deep mountains, but an everyday threat encroaching upon our neighborhoods and school gates. Experts point to environmental factors such as climate change and food shortages that force wildlife into densely populated areas, warning that fundamental countermeasures are urgently needed.

In South Korea, a policy shift toward ending bear farming is underway, but there are still many challenges to resolve. Despite a total ban on the ownership and breeding of farmed bears, a recent incident where a cub was born illegally at a farm highlights the moral hazard of those trying to evade the law. Even though breeding the endangered Asiatic black bear is strictly prohibited, the farm owner's excuse that it happened "by accident" is a result of neglecting the structural problems of the breeding environment. Such illegal acts remain a major obstacle to the national task of wildlife protection.

Fortunately, our society is also showing mature movements to protect animal rights. The case where Asiatic black bears, once raised for bile extraction, were transported to wildlife sanctuaries in Denmark through the cooperation of civic groups and the government is encouraging. The fact that bears, which suffered in narrow cages their entire lives, can now live in a wider natural environment is proof that we have begun to recognize animals not as "objects of use" but as "subjects of coexistence." However, the reality that hundreds of bears remain on farms due to the lack of capacity in government protection facilities shows that we still have a long way to go.