Municipalities across Hokkaido are engaging in spring management captures of brown bears, aiming to mitigate their presence near human habitats during the snowmelt period from February to May. This initiative not only seeks to instill caution in the bears and reduce sightings but also aims to pass on hunting skills to younger hunters. Sapporo city has begun these activities, particularly focusing on areas like Mount Shirahatayama, where there had previously been bear sightings without captures last autumn. In their efforts for this season, Sapporo's extermination team is experimenting with advanced technology for capturing brown bears. They are deploying small drones equipped with infrared cameras to locate bears by identifying their heat sources, as opposed to traditional methods where hunters would have directly approached to check dens. This approach minimizes danger by maintaining distance, especially essential considering the rise in urban bear encounters following poor acorn harvesting last autumn. Experts predict that the situation in fall 2026 will not be as severe due to a decline in bear population density after increased captures last autumn. However, there are significant challenges moving forward, such as the aging of hunters and a shortage of successors. Tamaki Yasuhiro, the leader of the extermination team, emphasized that training the next generation of hunters presents a crucial opportunity over the next few years. He noted the importance of not only passing down traditional techniques but also establishing new hunting methods and frameworks. Following increases in budget allocations from the government due to rising bear-related damages in 2025, a total of 76 municipalities are set to participate in this spring management capture, signifying a record high since the program's inception in 2023.