There are no more spots available in this program for 2025!

Bear Protection and Nature Conservation in Karuizawa

Karuizawa, a small town within the Joshinnetsu National Park, is well-known in Japan as a mountain resort. During the hot summer months in Tokyo, many people come to Karuizawa to enjoy the refreshing mountain temperatures. The lush forests around Karuizawa are rich in biodiversity, home to famous animals such as Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), wild boars, Japanese macaques (snow monkeys), and flying squirrels. Many visitors also come to the national park to observe birds like copper pheasants and green woodpeckers.

In the past, bears often came into the town to feed on food waste from garbage bins or to invade homes and gardens in search of food. Although bears are usually shy and avoid humans, startled bears can pose a danger to people. For this reason, bears that enter human settlements are still lethally removed in dangerous situations, which can impact the bear population.

In 1998, a cooperation began between a bear conservation organization and the town administration to solve the conflict between bears and the population. Garbage bins in the town were replaced with lockable models that bears cannot open to discourage them from entering the town. Educational programs for the population and tourists have also been established since then.

The bears living near the town were fitted with collars equipped with transmitters, allowing their movements to be tracked via radio waves. If a bear moves towards the town, the bear conservation organization staff can respond and divert the bear. Karelian bear dogs are used for this purpose, trained to drive the bears back into the forests. The dogs also protect the staff in the forest, as they can detect the presence of bears earlier than humans.

The bear conservation organization also conducts guided tours in the forests led by biologists, where visitors can learn about the animals and plants, as well as night tours to observe flying squirrels. The flying squirrels in the area are among the largest in the world.

Your Role as an Intern

As an intern, you will participate in the bear protection program. Around 20 bears are currently equipped with transmitters. The transmitters on the bears' collars need to be replaced every 2-4 years. To do this, bears are captured using cage traps. Interns can assist the team in fitting captured bears with collars equipped with transmitters, collecting data, and taking samples such as hair samples for research purposes.

Other tasks related to bear conservation include rescuing bears trapped by poachers, providing veterinary care, laboratory analysis of feces (other samples like blood, hair, and teeth are taken but analyzed by an external laboratory), GIS data input of bear movements, and participation in bear research (e.g., determining hibernation sites, pedigree analysis, and studying the relationship between diet and home range).

As an intern, you will also be part of the night patrol team that tracks bears via radiotelemetry at night and drives them back into the forest using Karelian bear dogs.

The bear conservation organization is one of only three facilities worldwide that breeds and trains Karelian bear dogs. Interns have the opportunity to interact with the dogs at the exercise area next to the office (petting, washing, cleaning up dog waste). Interns can observe the behavior of the dogs and reward them for good work.

In addition to bear and dog-related activities, sightings of other animals in the forests around Karuizawa are regularly recorded. The organization has set up camera traps in the forests, and the data from these traps need to be analyzed. Vegetation in the forest is also managed to improve coexistence between bears and humans. You will be involved in all these activities.

In connection with the guided tours, you may accompany larger groups to ensure that no one leaves the paths, gets lost in the forest, or disturbs the animals. The flying squirrels sleep in wooden boxes placed high in the trees. Interns check which of the boxes are inhabited by flying squirrels before the tours to ensure that visitors can observe the animals on the night tour. They also have the opportunity to assist at the visitor center and inform foreign visitors.

You will be active five days a week according to a schedule. It is often necessary to go out early in the morning or at night if bears approach the town.

In addition to the international interns from World Unite!, there are always Japanese biology students from various universities who intern at the bear conservation project.