Researcher issues warning over dangerous increase in encounters between humans and animals: 'The potential for conflict ... is growing'

Wild animal sightings are on the rise, and it's becoming a bigger and bigger problem in Japan. 

What's happening?

Researchers from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology analyzed decades of data and found that "the activity ranges of large mammals such as wild boars, Asiatic black bears, mountain goats, Japanese macaques, sika deer, and brown bears have rapidly increased," per Chosun Biz.

The common factor in all sightings was a changing habitat. As natural habitats shrink due to human expansion, animals have no choice but to move in closer to their human neighbors.

Why is an increase in interactions concerning?

Wildlife interactions put both the animal and the human at risk.

"As global warming and population decline expand the distribution of large mammals, the potential for conflict between humans and animals is growing," animal researcher Baek Seung-yoon told Chosun Biz.

As habitat loss condenses predators' hunting grounds and reduces available prey, desperate carnivores, like bears, coyotes, and cougars, may seek out food and attack humans. These injuries are often serious or fatal, and the animal is usually put down afterwards.

Wild animals in urban areas can also spread diseases to pets and humans, like rabies, Lyme disease, and hantavirus.

What's being done to prevent interaction?

Despite making up just 0.01% of all life on Earth, "75 percent of the Earth's land surface has been significantly altered by human actions," according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Millions of species are threatened by extinction due to habitat loss, and it's considered the most significant threat to species. Restoring these animals' natural habitats is one of the best ways to protect them.

Conservation groups around the globe are working to restore, preserve, and protect habitats, both on land and in the water. Conservation works. Preserving just 1% of the planet could save thousands of different species from extinction.

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