Bear shot dead after apparent mauling death of Aomori woman

KAZUNO, Akita -- A local hunters association shot a bear dead on June 10 in a mountain forest here where the body of a woman believed to have been attacked by a bear was found earlier in the day, police said.

Local police are poised to examine the bear's body to see if it attacked the woman -- identified as 74-year-old Tsuwa Suzuki from Towada, Aomori Prefecture. Suzuki, missing since June 8, had apparently been bitten by a large animal in the head and the stomach.

According to local police, a hunters association member shot the bear with a rifle about 20 meters southwest of the spot where Suzuki's body was found. The animal was a 1.3-meter long female Asiatic black bear thought to be 6 to 7 years old.

Three men were also found dead near the scene on May 21, 22 and 30. Investigators suspect that all of them were attacked by a bear.