Asian black bear
Five black bear populations, occurring in Kyushu, Shikoku, West-Chugoku, East-Chugoku and Kii areas, were listed as endangered by the Environmental Agency in the Japanese Red Data Book in 1991. Small isolated populations in the Tanzawa and Shimokita areas of mainland Honshū were listed as endangered in 1995. Beyond recognising these populations as endangered, there is still a lack of efficient conservation methods for Japanese black bears.
Bear conservation
Although the inclusion of the brown bear as of least concern on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species refers to their global population, the fact is that local populations are increasingly becoming scarcer. And as the IUCN itself adds