death by wildlife

[Lady Cop]

Two women were mauled to death after bears broke free from their cages in a Japanese animal park, police revealed today.

Officers said an unknown number of animals are still on the loose in the snow-covered Hachimantai bear park in Akita prefecture.

The park, in the north west of the country, keeps 38 animals, most of them brown bears.

Hunters have shot dead six of the animals, all within the gated park campus, and had recovered two bodies, thought to be those of workers at the facility, an Akita police spokesman said.

Emergency services were alerted after 10am local time to bear attacks in the park, which was closed to tourists for the winter, AFP reported today.

The police spokesman said the incident was not yet over.

'It's difficult to say exactly how many bears left their cages,' he told AFP, stressing that emergency workers were scrambling to contain the situation as darkness fell.

It took several hours before emergency workers could even go into the bear park for fears of being attacked by bears on the loose.

Police have asked local residents and school children to stay indoors.