KAZUNO (Japan) — Japan’s military deployed troops to the country’s mountainous north today to help trap bears after an urgent request from local authorities struggling to cope with a wave of attacks.

The operation began in the town of Kazuno, where residents for weeks have been told to avoid the thick forests that surround it, stay home after dark and carry bells to deter bears that might forage near their homes for food.

There have been more than 100 bear attacks with a record 12 people killed across Japan in the year since April, according to the environment ministry. Two-thirds of those deaths were in Akita prefecture, where Kazuno is located, and nearby Iwate.

“The townspeople feel the danger every day,” Kazuno Mayor Shinji Sasamoto said after meeting 15 or so soldiers who rolled into town in an army truck and several jeeps, equipped with body armour and large maps.

“It has affected how people live their lives forcing them to stop going out or cancel events,” Sasamoto said.

The troops will help transport, set and inspect the box traps used to capture the bears but they are culled by trained hunters with weapons more suited to that purpose.

Authorities in Akita say bear sightings have jumped six-fold this year to more than 8,000, prompting the prefecture’s governor to request help from Japan’s Self-Defence Forces last week.

After Kazuno, a town of around 30,000 people known for its hot springs, dramatic landscapes and variety of sweet apples, the soldiers will head for the cities of Odate and Kitaakita under an agreement due to last until the end of the month.