By Riho Bando
These days, as many people move to urban areas, they seek houses in the suburb. Due to this, the habitat for wild animals are destroyed to build houses. Development of wild areas negatively impact both humans and wild animal. People are afraid of meeting wild animals and animals in the city are in danger. Although this issue is serious, there are ways to protect humans and wild animals.
The issue of wild animals showing up in urban areas has gained attention over the last few years. Recently, bears, boars and monkeys often appear in residential areas. A research group in Hokkaido University say that brown bears show up in cities because they don’t have enough foods in a forest. Still, there is another issue. Animals that stepped into dangerous and noisy cities sometimes attack a human. According to the Ministry of the Environment, 81 people were injured by wild animals in Japan in 2022. You can’t be safe if a wild animal rush at you while you are talking a walk. To protect humans and animals, people should come up with solutions.
A good way to protect lives is to stop developing forests. Instead of using land more and more, the government should encourage to build taller apartments. Japan has enough technology to build tall buildings without risks.
Another way to avoid using too much land is to encourage remote working. People have gathered to cities to work and the suburb has been developed to build houses for commuters. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unthinkable to live in the countryside to work. Now, however, it is possible to work online and living in their hometowns. Therefore, they should be able to live in other places that are far away from urban areas. I believe that remote working will contribute to protect nature and animals. The problem of wild animals appearing in cities is serious. People should consider how to solve the issue. Avoiding cutting off trees and encouraging online working style will solve this issue. I hope that people could live safely with wild animals in the future.
