Damage by Brown Bear Ursus arctos to agriculture products in Rikubetsu-cho, eastern Hokkaido, was 69 times for 13 years from 1979 to 1991 based on agriculture damage records of Rikubetsu-cho. Agriculture products damaged were corns, sugar beets, nest boxes of honey bee and cattle. Of them corns and sugar beets were damaged frequently in September and October. Brown bears gave damages nearby the boundary between cultivated field and forest. Sizes of cultivated fields damaged ranged from 0.01 to 1.2 ha with averages of 0.09-0.32 ha for corns and 0.03-0.06 ha for sugar beets. In Rikubetsu-cho 13 bears were killed for 12 years from 1980 to 1992 (10 animals by sport hunting and 3 animals by control hunting).

View full abstract

At about 4:30 a.m. on August 18, 1991, Mrs. Ueda (67 years of age) was attacked by a sole black bear Ursus thibetanus on a mountain path in Kazuno, Akita. As Mrs. Ueda was taking a mountain path which is a shortcut to the field, she was suddenly attacked by the black bear and injured on the left side of her face. Two important safety factors had been overlooked. In spite of warnings of frequent sightings of bears Mrs.Ueda took the mountain path. A garbage dump, Which is known to attract bears, had been made near the field.

View full abstract

Dung beetles are known to certain extent to be selective over dung or droppings. Hardly anybody has confirmed that dung beetles land on hare dung. In general, it is said that rabbit urine has some effect which makes insects shum it. We thus supposed that the same effect might be expected with hare dung. Therefore, we made a selective cxperiment on the dung of deer, wild boars and hares. The results indicated to us that dung beetles tend to gather around boar's dung in groups and that as a whole, they dislike hare's dung. In all cases in this experiment, the dung beetles used this dung and we could observe them blowing eggs and their larvae growing. Furthermore, we weighed each kind of dried dung and the result was that hare's dung was the heaviest, deer's dung came next and the lightest was wild boar's. We thus came to the conclusion that the water content of dung has a great influence on its selectivity and utility value.

View full abstract

In the removal census of voles, the relationships between catching days and the number of voles caught in traps at 5 m and 10 m intervals were simulated. Census areas were divided into grid-like plots with traps set at intervals. A number of voles, calculated using the Poisson distribution function, was allotted to the plots in each population per 0.5 ha. Supposing that catching rate for each vole was equal. the number of voles caught on the first day would be the total of each vole from the 1,2,3 and 4 vole plots. On the second day, the number would be the total from the 2,3 and 4 plots and on the third day, it would be the total of each vole from the 3 and 4 vole plots and so on By this method, the relationships between catching days and the number of voles caught in populations per 0.5ha were calculated as in tables 2 and 3. Comparing the 10m trap interval with the 5m trap interval, the catching days at the 5m interval are shorter than those at the 10m interval, as shown in figs. 3 and 4.

View full abstract

The natural environment is a very important issue at present. This paper discusses Japanese views of nature based on pre-test data. The survey was conducted on students from two different faculties at different universities; the Faculty of Humanities at Toyo Riwa Wonco's University and the Faculty of Agriculture at Shinshu University. In comparing the results of the survey, the authors obtained some interesting findings. For example; (1) Four common animals, the bear, monkey. racoon dog and fox were listed by both groups, but the serow was the number one choice by the students of Shinshu University. (2) Many of students of Toyo Eiwa selected animals which have to be protected from extinction based on thcir liking of animals, without considering the ecosystem. This contrasted with Shinshu University where many of the students seem to consider the problem in relation to the ecosystem. Differences between the two groups regarding simple feelings towards nature are small, however there are large differences of opinion how to thik of nature. These results suggest that Japanese people hasically feel the same way about nature but opinions on how to think of nature varies according to one's environment, education or other conditions.

View full abstract