A bear that rampaged through a Japanese supermarket for two days was lured out with food coated in honey, local officials said. The animal was trapped and later killed on Monday, police said.

Japan has a growing problem with bears, with a record six human fatalities from attacks and more than 9,000 of the animals killed in the previous fiscal year.

In the latest incident, police received an emergency call early Saturday that a bear had wounded a 47-year-old man in a supermarket in Akita, on Japan’s main island of Honshu. Japan Today reported the man, a store employee, was expected to recover.

A gash on the man’s head “will take at least a week to heal once his stitches get removed, according to a doctor,” a police spokesman told AFP.

The supermarket was evacuated with the animal left inside, where it laid waste to the meat department, according to the Asahi Shimbun daily.

Finally early Monday, the bear walked into a trap containing “rice bran, bananas, apples, and bread, all coated with honey,” an Akita official told AFP.

“We prepared two traps, and one of them captured the bear on the backyard side of the supermarket,” he said.

The animal was killed later Monday, Japan Today reported, citing police.

Human-bear interactions on the rise in Japan

Human fatalities from bears in the fiscal year to March 31 included an elderly woman attacked in her garden and a fisherman whose severed head was found by a lake.  A bear attack was also suspected after a college student was found dead on a mountain in northern Japan.

The period had the highest number of deaths since the government started collecting data from 2006 to 2007.

More than 200 other people were involved in incidents with bears.

In the current fiscal year so far, three people have been killed.

Experts told CBS News that as Japan’s population shrinks, humans are leaving rural areas, and bears are moving in.

“Then that area recovered to the forest, so bears have a chance to expand their range,” biologist Koji Yamazaki, from Tokyo University of Agriculture, told CBS News. 

Other factors include climate change affecting the omnivores’ food supply and their hibernation times. This summer tied for Japan’s warmest on record.

In the previous fiscal year, a record 9,097 bears were killed, more than twice that of the previous period, according to the environment ministry.

Local media have reported that authorities are having problems finding enough hunters to shoot the animals, citing Japan’s declining and ageing population.

The country has two types of bears: moon bears and the larger brown bear, which can weigh 1,100 pounds, outrun a human and, in Japan, only lives in the main northern island of Hokkaido.

Last August , hunters killed an elusive brown bear nicknamed “Ninja” in Hokkaido after it attacked at least 66 cows, the Associated Press reported. And, in October 2023, local Japanese officials and media outlets reported that three bears were euthanized after sneaking into a tatami mat factory in the northern part of the country.

A 5-year-old bull terrier that was abandoned and reportedly tied to a post in chest-deep water as Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida in October has found a new home.

Over the last few weeks, hundreds have applied to be Trooper’s forever family after he was rescued from Milton, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm, by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Orlando Morales.

“I was kinda enraged at some point, how could anybody just possibly even think of doing an act like this, it was just awful,” Morales previously told CBS News when he was reunited with his four-legged friend.

Amy Raddar with the Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee, Florida, said they were looking for a very specific adopter for Trooper.

“The outpouring has been so great,” she said.

Bull terriers are a unique breed, known for being sweet dogs, but are also high energy, strong and stubborn.

“I don’t always say people have to have breed experience, but in that particular dog, I think it’s important,” Raddar added.

Carla and Frank Spina, who live 400 miles away from Tallahassee, in Parkland, Florida, have 33 years of experience with bull terriers. 

A friend forwarded a story about Trooper to the couple.

“I said to Frank, ‘Did you hear this story?’ And see I’m going to start crying, and he said, ‘Yeah, I didn’t tell you because I knew you would get upset,'” Carla Spina said.

The Spinas are bull terrier owners and love the breed. They got their first, named Krunchie, in 1992, followed by Diesel. A few years ago, they adopted Dallas.

“We’ve always had an infinity for bull terriers. That’s the breed that we love, they’re special,” said Frank Spina.

They said when they saw Trooper, they knew his needs and wanted to help. They applied to adopt the beloved dog, but there was one major hurdle. Trooper is weary of men because of his past trauma and the humane society wasn’t sure it would work out because of Frank.

The Spinas drove more than seven hours to Tallahassee to see if Trooper would fit in their family.

“Amy said, ‘Frank, why don’t you sit on that bench and see what happens?’ He came over and he got under my legs and I started scratching and his foot started moving,” Frank Spina said.

It was a perfect match, giving Trooper who was once tossed aside, a loving forever family.

“We will take good care of him,” Carla Spina told Raddar when she dropped off Trooper. “We just want everyone to know we are going to give him the best life.”

For the Spinas, it feels like their family’s missing piece was found.

“We are like living in a dream,” said Frank Spina. “We just can’t believe that a month ago we saw a news report and now a month later he’s in my bedroom.”

David Begnaud

David Begnaud is a CBS News contributor and previously served as the lead national correspondent for “CBS Mornings,” based in New York City.

Many investors have been flocking to gold in the last few years — and for good reason. It’s a great diversifier, it protects against inflation, and it’s a safe-haven asset when things go awry.

All of these things have led to a rise in gold demand and, subsequently, a run-up in gold prices. In fact, the average price of gold reached record highs several times this year — surpassing $2,700 by October. 

While prices have dipped a bit since those highs, they’re still much higher than seen at most points in recent years. Where will they head next, though, and is gold still a smart investment of your money? 

Learn how to add gold to your investment portfolio today.

What’s the gold price forecast for December 2024?

Here’s what experts have to say about the gold price forecast this month. 

Anything can happen

With such a big increase over the last year or two, gold prices could easily go either way in December — and in the coming months. 

“There is one thing that can drive the price of gold down — and that’s a credit crisis when every asset is being sold to urgently raise cash to service debts,” says Keith Weiner, CEO of Monetary Metals. “A crisis may be coming, though it’s hard to say it will be this month. All the other foreseeable events — war, government profligacy and debt, geopolitical shifting — seem much more likely to push more people to buy more gold.”

For these reasons, Weiner says gold has much more “upside potential than downside risk” in the near term.

“The bull market in gold will likely continue, as all the macro-economic and geopolitical drivers are still in full force,” he says.

Find out what the many benefits of gold investing are now.

If gold does drop, it could be an opportunity

Drew Martino, a wealth manager at Savvy Wealth, thinks there’s a chance gold prices continue dipping as they have in recent weeks.

But that can be a good thing, according to Martino. 

“We never recommend buying gold based on short-term trends,” Martino says. “If you buy gold, you’re asking yourself what will the price be 10 years from now, not next month.”

With that timeframe in mind, any continuing price drops could actually work in your favor.

“If I had to speculate on the short-term price of gold, I’d say gold will continue downward pressures through the end of the year, creating an attractive entry point for the long-term investor,” Martino says.

Political uncertainty will factor in

One factor that could throw a big kink into gold’s trajectory is the change in political administrations. 

“Leading up to the election, the price action took a pause, and then on the news that Trump won, a correction began,” Weiner says. “This was long anticipated by many industry observers. What’s interesting is that the correction was fairly shallow — around 10% — and appears to be over.”

What happens in the future in terms of economic decisions and geopolitical conflicts will certainly have a continued impact, though. 

James Cordier, head trader at Alternative Options, says the incoming presidential administration could affect gold prices, as well, depending on what it does to drive down consumer prices.

In short: Investors will likely be looking less toward gold and more toward other assets, causing gold prices to tumble.

The bottom line

There’s no crystal ball showing where gold prices will fall in the near term, but if you do opt to invest, choose your gold vehicles wisely.

“There are different gold investment solutions to choose from. Gold ETFs have averaged nearly 6% and tangible gold nearly 8% average returns over the last 30 years,” Eric Elkins, CEO at Double E Financial Solutions, says. 

These options have outperformed even traditional “conservative” investments, like money market accounts and bonds, Elkins says.  

If you’re not sure what’s the best way to invest in gold for your goals, talk to an investment advisor or financial planner. They can help you make the best moves for your portfolio.