Bear kills man and mauls woman in home attack near Ulaanbaatar
The fatal incident in a traditional nomadic ger comes amid a massive spike in human-wildlife encounters across Mongolia and wider Asia.
A bear has killed a man in his 40s and seriously injured a woman after attacking them inside their home on the outskirts of the Mongolian capital.
The attack happened on Wednesday night in the Bayanzurkh district of Ulaanbaatar. The couple were inside their ger — a traditional nomadic tent-like structure — when the animal broke in. While the man was killed, the woman, who is in her 50s, managed to escape the mauling and run to neighbours for help. She is currently in hospital in a serious condition, according to Munkhbayar M, the head of the city's environment department.
A team of 35 rangers is currently searching the area to locate and destroy the bear.
Why are bear sightings rising?
The attack is the latest and most violent sign of what Mongolian officials say is an unprecedented surge in human-bear encounters. So far this year, Ulaanbaatar has recorded 24 confirmed bear sightings, compared to just two in 2018 and one in 2019.
Nationwide, the numbers are even more stark. Authorities have tracked 754 bear sightings across 11 provinces and the capital in 2026. Strikingly, four out of five of those encounters involved female bears with cubs or lone cubs.
Hunger appears to be driving the animals out of the forests and into human settlements. Baljinnyam N, an official at Mongolia's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said that a bear recently shot and examined in the eastern Khentii province had a completely empty stomach.
In an effort to keep wild food sources intact, the government banned citizens from harvesting wild nuts and berries from mountainous regions in September. Officials have also issued bear-hunting permits across eight provinces and are trying to secure tranquiliser dart guns for rangers working in rural districts.
A regional trend across Asia
The crisis in Mongolia is part of a broader trend across North and East Asia, where environmental changes and population shifts are bringing humans and bears into frequent conflict.
In neighbouring Russia, prosecutors in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk recently opened an investigation into local authorities' failure to control bear populations, following six fatal attacks within a single month. Russia’s brown bear population has more than doubled since 1990, reaching more than 308,000 this year.
Japan is also experiencing record numbers of encounters. A record 13 people were killed by bears there last year, with animals frequently spotted on golf courses, near schools, and inside supermarkets. Experts point to a complex mix of climate-induced food shortages in the wild and depopulation in rural areas, which leaves vacant land that draws hungry animals closer to towns.
Key numbers
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bear sightings in Ulaanbaatar in 2026 | 24 | Munkhbayar M, Ulaanbaatar Environment Department |
| Total bear sightings across Mongolia in 2026 | 754 | Mongolian Environment Department |
| Proportion of sightings involving cubs or mothers | 80% | Mongolian Environment Department |
| Rangers deployed to locate the bear | 35 | Munkhbayar M, Ulaanbaatar Environment Department |
| Bear population in Russia in 2026 | 308,000 | Russia Natural Resources Ministry |
In this story
| Name | Role in the story |
|---|---|
| Bayanzurkh | The district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar where the couple was attacked. |
| Ulaanbaatar | The capital of Mongolia, near which the fatal attack occurred. |
| Munkhbayar M | Head of Ulaanbaatar's environment department who briefed reporters on the attack. |
