たまたまわたしは本日まで外泊中ですが、昨日午前6:37の発表で、地図上の位置でヒグマの発見情報（！）。「札幌市ヒグマ出没情報」という市の広報での発表でした。「なになに、札幌市中央区宮ヶ丘・・・？」って、わたしの毎日の散歩道そのものであります。わたしの住む札幌市西区山の手からは図のように2.9kmの距離。ふだんはクルマで神宮駐車場に移動し駐車してそこから散歩をはじめる。
で「なになに474番地35？？」という地番まで特定されていたのでGoogleマップでピンポイント表示したら、まさに散歩道そのものピッタンコであります！
この場所は北海道神宮の施設建物で３箇所ある神宮駐車場に隣接している。毎日参拝している女性のお地蔵さんからも100mくらい。時間的にも6:37と言えば散歩の真っ最中の時間帯。北海道神宮本殿前の広場ではこの時間は多くのみなさんが集まってラジオ体操の真っ最中でもあります。おいおい、でありますが、その後の発表では目撃情報自体は4/13の23時55分ということでした。
ヒグマの行動テリトリーを想像してみれば、地図上の小さな河川に沿って下界に下りてきたに相違なく、そうすると円山公園そのものがかれの行動テリトリーであることが容易に想定される。わたしもこの河川に沿ってほぼ毎日のように散歩しているのでほぼ同様の「地形認識」を共有していることになる。
市からの発出情報では現場では警官による確認警戒がなされているということで注意深く情報を見ていましたが、本日現在続報は寄せられていない。深夜の目撃情報なので誤認の可能性もあるけれど・・・。
昨年もわが家周辺では三角山というごく至近の山でヒグマ母子の巣穴が発見されて、母熊は発見者に危害を加えた後、逃走したという事案が発生している。これもわが家から2kmほどという直近地域。さらに昨年は札幌市東区の市街地に現れたヒグマによってケガを負った方もいて、市街地で殺処分されたことも記憶に新しい。こういった経緯から、ことしの春にも十分にあり得ると予測していたのであります。
当面は散歩コースを変更しようかと考えています。が、それも周辺の河川公園沿いのコースなのでヒグマたちの行動パターンからは遭遇可能性がある。自然豊かな北海道に住んでいる以上、こういう危険性は前提として考えておかなければならないのでしょうね。

English version⬇

Brown Bear Sighting 4/14 06:37 in Hokkaido Shrine
This is the second report from last year, this time from the area around my house and along my usual walking path. We have to accept the coexistence with the danger of nature. Be careful. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not.

I happen to be out of town until today, but yesterday at 6:37 a.m., an announcement was made that a brown bear had been spotted (!) at a location on the map. I am staying out until today. It was an announcement on the city’s public relations website titled “Sapporo City Brown Bear Appearance Information. What is it, Miyagaoka, Chuo-ku, Sapporo? This is exactly where I walk every day. It is 2.9 km from Yamanote, Nishi-ku, Sapporo, where I live, as shown in the figure. I usually drive to the Jingu parking lot and park my car, and start my walk there.
Then, I was able to identify the address number, “What is it, 474-35? I pinpointed the location on Google Maps and found it to be exactly where I wanted to walk!
This location is adjacent to the three Jingu parking lots in the Hokkaido Jingu facility building. It is also about 100 meters from the female Jizo-san who visits the shrine every day. Time-wise, 6:37 is the middle of the walk. At this time of day, many people gather at the plaza in front of the main shrine building of Hokkaido Jingu and are in the middle of radio calisthenics. The subsequent announcement said that the sighting took place at 23:55 on 4/13.
If we imagine a brown bear’s territory, it must have descended along a small river on the map, and we can easily assume that Maruyama Park itself is its territory. I also walk along this river almost every day, so we share a similar “topographical awareness”.
According to the information issued by the city, police officers are on alert at the site, and I have been watching the information carefully, but as of today, no further reports have been received. It was a late-night sighting, so it could have been a misidentification….
Last year, a mother brown bear and her cubs were found in a den near our house on Triangle Mountain, and the mother bear escaped after harming the discoverer. This was also in the immediate area, about 2 km from our house. In addition, last year, a person was injured by a brown bear that appeared in the urban area of Higashi-ku, Sapporo, and it is still fresh in our minds that a brown bear was killed in the urban area. We had anticipated that this might happen again this year.
For the time being, we are thinking of changing our walking course. However, it is also a course along the surrounding river park, so there is a possibility of encountering brown bears based on their behavior patterns. As long as we live in Hokkaido, which is rich in nature, we must be aware of this kind of danger, I suppose.

Posted on 4月 15th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究