Authorities are searching for a bear that sneaked into the home of an elderly couple and raided their fridge amid concerns it may be behind 14 break-ins across a Japanese town in the past fortnight.

有关部门正在搜寻一头闯入一对老年夫妇家中并翻找冰箱的熊，担心它可能是过去两周内日本某镇发生的14起入室事件的元凶。

On Monday evening, Mitsuo Matsubara, 87, was confronted by a large Asiatic black bear when he went to investigate a noise in his kitchen. His fridge was open, and food was strewn across the floor. His wife called the police.

周一傍晚，87岁的松原光雄听到厨房有响动，前去查看时，迎面撞上一头体型庞大的亚洲黑熊。 当时冰箱门已经打开，食物散落一地。 他的妻子随即报警。

Break-ins have now been reported at five locations in the north-eastern town of Shizukuishi, leading officials to suspect one bear may be a repeat offender. They have set up box traps, installed electric fences around repeatedly targeted houses and deployed patrols to warn people about the bear.

截至目前，位于日本东北部的雫石町已有5处地点报告了熊入室事件，当地部门怀疑可能是同一头熊反复作案。 他们已设置了箱式陷阱，在多次遭袭的房屋周围安装电网，并部署巡逻队向居民发出警示。

"It's unusual for a bear to break into the same place multiple times," said Shiho Chida, a bear specialist with the nature division in Iwate prefecture, where the town lies. "It's possible this is the same animal, so we want to capture it as soon as possible."

该町所属的岩手县自然保护课熊类专家千田志穗表示：“熊多次闯入同一地点的情况并不常见。 很可能是同一头熊，我们希望尽快将其捕获。”

So far, a bear has been caught breaking into buildings on a farm in the area four times over the past couple of weeks, helping itself to milk-based cattle feed. It was caught on camera attempting to open the sliding door of a farmhouse in the dead of night, but ran away after the farmer shone a light on it and shouted loudly.

截至目前，过去几周内，该地区一处农场已4次拍到有熊闯入建筑物内，偷吃以牛奶为原料的牛饲料。 监控还拍到这头熊曾在深夜试图拉开农舍的推拉门，但在农夫用手电筒照射并大声呵斥后逃跑。

In the hope of discouraging the unwanted intruder, the farmer has taken to spreading a homemade anti-bear mixture containing Japanese mustard around entranceways.

为了赶走这位不速之客，这位农夫开始在入口处撒布一种自制的驱熊混合物，其中含有日本芥末。

On Friday last week, another local resident came home from shopping to find a bear inside his house near the room where his elderly father was sleeping. The animal ran outside when he banged on a nearby door. But it attempted to come back inside, and the man spent about 30 seconds struggling to hold a sliding door shut as the bear stood on its hind legs trying to push its way in. He described the bear as about 1.65 metres tall.

上周五，另一名当地居民购物回家后，发现一头熊出现在他年迈父亲睡觉的房间附近。 他猛敲旁边的门，熊随即跑了出去，但很快又试图返回屋内。 这名男子花了约30秒时间死死抵住推拉门，而熊则直立起来试图推门闯入。 他描述这头熊大约有1.65米高。

The following evening a woman discovered a bear going through food in her kitchen, and on Sunday it broke into a Japanese confectionery shop and took doughnuts out of the fridge.

次日晚上，一名女子发现一头熊正在她的厨房里翻找食物。周日，这头熊又闯入一家日式点心店，从冰箱里偷走了甜甜圈。

The bear's sweet tooth has driven it to break into one house five times, where it has eaten cookies, sugar and karinto, a Japanese sugar-coated sweet made from fried dough.

这头熊嗜好甜食，已因此5次闯入同一户人家，偷吃了饼干、白糖和花林糖（一种油炸面糊制成的日式裹糖点心）。

Record numbers of bear attacks and fatalities have occurred in Japan in recent years. Experts believe that shrinking populations in rural areas have made it less intimidating for bears to come into towns, and that many have now lost their fear of humans.

近年来，日本发生的熊袭击事件和致死事件数量均创下纪录。 专家认为，农村地区人口的减少使得熊进入城镇变得不那么可怕，许多熊现在已经不再害怕人类。