39kg of bread found dumped on Japan mountain roadside, fake AI footage shows bear eating it

Japanese officials find 39kg of bread & chicken livers dumped on mountain roadside

Japanese authorities have been left puzzled by a string of incidents involving large quantities of bread being dumped along a mountain roadside.

In total, 39kg of bread was found across four days between 14 and 20 Aug, along with 1.3kg of chicken livers.

Bread left along 100-metre stretch of guardrail in national park

Japanese media reported in late August that the dumping took place along a road in Daisen-Oki National Park in Tottori Prefecture, near Daisenji Temple.

The first discovery was made around noon on 14 Aug, when a staff member from the National Parks Foundation was patrolling the area by car and came across 30 loaves of bread.

The loaves had been placed along a roughly 100-metre stretch of guardrail, almost like an exaggerated Hansel and Gretel trail.

According to The Mainichi, the loaves were larger than those typically sold in supermarkets and weighed a total of 16.7kg.

Over the next two days, another 11.8kg of bread was found at the same site and other nearby locations.

As the bread continued to appear, the foundation alerted the authorities, including the police.

Chicken livers arranged in five piles at roadside on 19 Aug

“When I first heard of the reports, my head was full of question marks,” Koji Iwaihara, director of the foundation’s Tottori branch, said.

Officials initially suspected that the bread might have been used as bait for cameras livestreaming wild animals, but no such equipment was found in the area.

Then, on the morning of 19 Aug, staff found 1.3kg of fresh chicken livers arranged in five piles on a roadside turnout.

Another 10.5kg of bread was discovered the following morning.

Tests found no poison in either the bread or the chicken livers.

AI-generated footage of bear eating bread circulates on social media

One National Parks Foundation official noted that people who illegally dump items would usually try to hide them.

In this case, however, the food had been placed conspicuously and at regular intervals.

This led officials to suspect that whoever left it behind may have intended for wild animals to eat it.

The area is home to wildlife including deer and Asian black bears, and officials warned that animals becoming accustomed to human food could increase the risk of injuries or traffic accidents.

Tottori Governor Shinji Hirai also raised concerns that bears could become accustomed to the taste of bread if it had indeed been left as bait.

As attention around the case grew, AI-generated footage showing a large bear eating the loaves of bread began circulating on social media.

Authorities have stressed that there has been no confirmed case of a bear eating any of the bread dumped in Tottori Prefecture.

The prefectural government has since requested that the misleading footage be removed, warning that it could create a false impression of the area and cause reputational or economic harm.

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Featured image adapted from Kyodo News and FNN on YouTube.