An expert panel of the Environment Ministry on Monday backed the use of rifles to hunt bears in residential areas under some conditions.

The ministry aims to revise the wildlife protection and hunting law in the next parliamentary session. The act bans in principle the firing of rifles in densely populated residential areas in order to protect the safety of residents.

Specifically, hunters will be allowed to fire rifles even in such areas if there is a risk of human injury, a bear has entered a building or one has been captured in a trap.

Currently, hunters belonging to regional hunting associations can use rifles in residential areas only if a police officer judges the situation to be urgent and issues an order.

Bears are appearing in urban areas more frequently, and there have been many cases of residents and local government officials getting injured when trying to catch a bear. That has led some to call for the ability to hunt bears without waiting for an order from police.

Under the revised law, hunters meeting certain conditions will also be allowed to hunt bears at night. The ministry will decide details of the conditions later.

In the year through March this year, the number of people attacked by bears hit a record high of 219. In April and May, 34 victims of bear attacks were reported, including two fatal cases.