Hoping to promote coexistence, a resort town in a mountainous area of Nagano Prefecture is using a rare breed of dog to chase bears away from areas where people live.
Karuizawa had been struggling since 2000 with bears entering the town to scavenge for food, when Picchio, a nonprofit organization devoted to conserving bears, introduced Karelian bear dogs there in 2004.
The Karelian is bred to bark at and chase bears back into the forest when they enter residential areas, thereby eliminating the need to catch or kill the bears for the sake of ensuring public safety.