I don't know which wild animals are scarier - bears or boars. In Japan both are pretty scary.
Last week in Kanagawa Prefecture, a wild boar came down from the mountain forest into the town of Hadano. First, it was seen at the entrance of the Aeon shopping center, where it knocked an 83 year old woman to the ground and she suffered injuries to her head. After that, the creature ran about 200 meters down the street, attacking a young man who was left with wounds to his left leg.
Next, the boar was seen running around the athletic field at Suehiro Elementary School, which is about 400 meters from the shopping center. The city animal control workers arrived at the school and tried to incapacitate the animal using a prod that delivers electric shocks. That did nothing, as the boar, estimated to be 120 centimeters long and 80 kilograms in weight, charged at the animal control employees. At that time, Masahiro Iwata, the deputy chief of the Agricultural Promotion Division of Hadano, stabbed the wild boar with a spear that had a 150 centimeter shaft and 24 centimeter bladed head. That was it for the boar, Mr. Iwata killed it. Luckily no children were in danger or saw the animal being killed, as they were all inside the school at the time.
I'm not in favor of killing animals, but I'm less in favor of animals killing people. Boars or bears or other wildlife are sometimes killed in Japan in order to protect people, but using the old fashioned spear is very unusual.
