A man in his 20s who was descending in Hokkaido, Japan, was found dead after going missing following a bear attack.

On the 18th, according to Hokkaido Television Broadcasting (HTB) and NHK, the man, Soda Geisuke (26), who visited Mount Raousudake in eastern Hokkaido with a friend on the 14th, was attacked by a bear while descending.

The Japanese black bear expands its habitat distribution in western Japan over the past 20 years, and the Brown bear expands slowly at an average of 35.2㎢ per year, but it is found to inhabit 80% of Hokkaido. /Courtesy of Morioka City Animal Park

According to the police, at the time, Soda was walking about 200 meters ahead of his friend when he suddenly screamed, fell, and was dragged into the forest while being bitten on the thigh by the bear.

His friend chased the bear but failed and immediately reported it to request rescue. The rescue team that began the search discovered Soda's body the following day, on the 15th.

His body was reported to have been severely mutilated in the lower half, with wounds all over his body. The police announced that the cause of death was bleeding from multiple traumas throughout the body.

The police also explained that during the search process, they killed three bears and planned to confirm if any of those bears were responsible for attacking Soda through genetic testing.

Authorities closed the hiking trail and fully controlled access to prevent further incidents.

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