EXCLUSIVE: MS&AD to Support Local Govts in Culling Bears

Tokyo, Nov. 20 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. plans to help local governments cull wild bears under an emergency system introduced recently following rises in deaths and injuries from bear attacks in the country, Jiji Press learned Thursday. The company will support the creation of manuals by providing a checklist for emergency shooting and a model that includes procedures for restoring the original state of shooting sites and paying compensation, informed sources said. It will also help develop training plans for scenarios such as potential damage on residences from bullets fired and offer lectures on how to deal with complaints regarding bear culling, according to the sources. These paid services will be sold from December by subsidiary MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting Inc. mainly through Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., both under the wing of MS&AD Insurance Group. Prices per municipality will start at 300,000 yen for the manual creation assistance and at 500,000 yen for the training support. The insurance group aims to win orders from a total of 30 municipalities over the next year. Under the emergency culling system, introduced in September, shooting of bears in residential or other inhabited areas is allowed based on decisions by local governments in accordance with the revised wildlife protection and management law. Securing hunters and the lack of expertise remain challenges, however. According to preliminary data from the Environment Ministry, 197 people were killed or injured by bears between April and October this year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]