Everyone likes to think that we are safe. Everyone likes to think that, in our advanced culture in which we have mastered the elements of nature, we are invincible. We are not. Nature is the very legitimate source of all of our fear, and the more we move away from it the more susceptible we are to succumbing to its vicious hunger.
As an example: the Sankebetsu brown bear 'incident'.
Click 'read more' to hear the tale of the animal that terrorized a small Japanese town for over a week.
Stalking from home to home, a large bear terrorized the people of a small town. In only five days, seven people were murdered. They were not eaten, nor was the pattern consistent with an animal defending its territory. No one has been able to determine the exact cause of the beasts' fury, which is why this has become such an interesting case. Perhaps a hunter wronged it in some way. Perhaps it simply saw humans encroaching on the forest and reacted aggressively.
But, if so, why was the animal so patient? Why did it move around, instead of simply barging into a population center and attacking anyone in sight?
The 'incident' has since become something of a minor cultural phenomenon. In the ensuing years there were a radio drama (1980), a novelization (1965 and 1977), a stage play (1986), and even a feature film (1990).
Outsider Japan
Wikipedia
Another notable bear attack: Sloth Bear of Mysore
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