Japanese officials in the northern part of the country are warning citizens against exploring the wilderness alone after a spate of gruesome bear attacks.
In the past month, four people have been mauled to death by bears while foraging for food and bamboo in the Japanese prefecture of Akita.
One local veterinarian suggested that the series of attacks may be result of one particular animal rather than newfound aggressiveness from the animals.
That said, he added an ominous caveat to his assessment of the situation, telling the Japanese media that "after tasting human flesh, the bear may have learned it can eat them."
The attacks have caused concern from Japanese officials, since only eight people in the country had been killed by bears in the last 35 years until the events of the last few weeks.
Additionally, the overall number of bear sightings in Japan has already doubled the total for 2015 after less than six months.
In response, authorities have begun placing traps in the area in the hopes of capturing the bear they believe may be behind the attacks and are advising residents on how to avoid becoming its next victim.
Until then, we can only hope that the bear does not tell its friends about the delicious taste of humans or else the problem could get exponentially worse.
Source: The Independent