NGO recruiting four-legged ‘specialist’ to help deal with bear incidents

SAPPORO – As concerns grow over the presence of bears in urban areas, a Sapporo-based environmental NGO plans to acquire a Karelian bear dog early next year to help city officials respond to bear-related incidents. The dog, which will be brought in from a U.S.-based organization next February, will be dispatched when the EnVision Environmental Conservation Office receives a request from city hall to investigate a reported bear sighting. The dog, a young male named Kai, will be trained by the nongovernmental organization’s Koichi Waseda for about a year before being dispatched to sites where bears or signs of their presence have been spotted or reported.