Japan is deploying anti-bear drone tech in its ongoing and intense war on bears

• A Japanese city is taking an innovative approach to keeping bears away: drones.
• Ishinomaki City has ordered bear-spray-carrying drones from Terra Drones to deter bears.
• The drones can be operated remotely, allowing people to retreat safely.

A city in Japan has come up with a high-tech solution to its intense bear problem.

Ishinomaki City in Japan's eastern Miyagi Prefecture has ordered drones that will spray bear repellent at attacking bears.

Drone manufacturer Terra Drone said in a press release on Monday that it will supply the city with what it calls "bear repellent spray-equipped drones," which it said could remotely and safely repel bears without human intervention.

A video of the drone's demonstration showed a drone spraying repellent on a human dressed in a bear suit, crouching on all fours to mimic a bear's stance.

Terra Drone told Business Insider in an email that it would introduce one drone first and begin full-scale operations from next spring. The company expects the total project cost to be "a few million yen."

The drones will be operated by a private company picked by the city's government to prevent bear damage, Terra Drone said.

Bear sightings and attacks have become a big problem for Japan. The word "bear" was one of Japan's words of the year in 2025.

The release, citing figures from Japan's environment ministry, said bear sightings increased 163% between 2021 and 2025, and there had been 100 bear attack-linked injuries and 12 deaths in Japan since April.

Japan deployed troops from the Self-Defense Forces — the country's key military branch — in December to its northern regions, where several bear sightings had been reported. The troops set box traps to capture the bears.

The drones can be controlled from about half a mile away, and can spray the bears with "pinpoint accuracy," the release said. Bear sprays contain capsaicin, a chemical found in chili peppers, which irritates the bear's eyes and nose, giving the human time to escape.

It added, "This provides a highly effective method of scaring away bears, whose sense of smell is thousands of times stronger than that of humans, and allows them time to temporarily evacuate."

The bear-spray drones are not the only drone-based solution Japan has deployed thus far.

In November, Gifu Prefecture deployed barking drones that mimic the sounds of hunting dogs, along with firecrackers, to scare off incoming bears. The drones featured large googly eyes and loudspeakers.