MORIOKA -- A bear wandered into the underground parking lot of The Bank of Iwate Ltd.'s head office on the morning of Oct. 28 where it was contained for several hours before being extracted safely.

According to Iwate Prefectural Police's Morioka Higashi Police Station, the bear is believed to have entered around 6:30 a.m. where it was then locked in after the shutters were lowered.

After considering options including exterminating the bear, city authorities had a veterinarian anesthetize the bear using a blowgun before extracting it using a veterinary cage at around 10 a.m. the same day. There were no reports of injured people.

(Japanese original by Kanon Chikamori, Lifestyle, Science & Environment News Department)