The Japanese government plans to hire licensed hunters to cull bears amid growing public fear over a record surge in bear attacks across the country.

The environment ministry announced Thursday that it would allocate funds to recruit hunters and other personnel to deal with bears increasingly wandering into towns, attacking people, and breaking into shops and schools.

The decision follows a high-level meeting to address Japan’s escalating bear problem, which has claimed 12 lives so far this year — the highest number since records began in the 2000s.

Authorities said more than 100 people have been injured, including a foreign tourist attacked near a bus stop at a popular site. The situation is most severe in Akita prefecture in northern Japan, where the highest number of casualties has been reported.

Officials said the government is also considering allowing police to use rifles to shoot bears. Japan’s self-defence forces have been deployed to assist Akita’s local government in capturing and repelling the animals.

The lives and livelihoods of people are under threat,” Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters Tuesday, according to Kyodo News.

Japan is home to two species of bears — the Japanese black bear and the larger, more aggressive brown bear found mainly on Hokkaido island.