In fiscal 2022, it felt like we were finally out of the Corona Crisis, but the impact was still significant. Personally, I was hit by the COVID-19, as I got infected during my stay in Edinburgh, UK. As a result, I was forced to extend my stay for 7 days, which was quite difficult. On top of that, I was scheduled to go on a business trip to Nepal one week after the business trip to Edinburgh, so I ended up making two overseas business trips without delay (directly from Narita to Nepal, unable to return to Sapporo). The overseas business trip for the first time in three years was made at an unprecedented schedule. Still, both were valuable business trips that revived the scenery of pre-Corona times.
On the educational front, it is worth noting that two of the graduate students (Minagisa Jimbo and Rajan Paudel) earned their doctorate degrees in 2022. Dr. Jimbo (currently a researcher at the Hokkaido Research Organization) used two submitted papers as the basis for the doctoral dissertation, and obtained a degree in June last year. On the other hand, Rajan completed his doctoral dissertation “Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) in Nepal: ecology, genetic diversity and conflict with humans” based on one submitted paper, and received his doctoral degree in March. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to both of them.

Unable to find employment in Nepal, Rajan remained in his classroom to continue his research as a visiting foreign researcher. In the graduate education program, he continued to participate in the One Health Frontier Graduate School of Excellence, with Tsubota serving as a member of the steering committee. Graduate students also participated in various programs such as lectures, seminars, briefings, and internships. In undergraduate education, continued to participate in IVEP, Tsubota was involved in international joint education with the University of Edinburgh, and Associate Professor Michito Shimozuru was involved in international joint education with the University of Zambia. In fact, in August, we accepted four students from the University of Edinburgh and conducted a study tour to Hokkaido for the first time in three years. Meanwhile, in September, for the first time in three years, we sent six Hokkaido University students to Edinburgh for training. Both were accompanied by Tsubota (got infected with Corona in Edinburgh).

In terms of research, two scientific research institutes (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) “Tick-borne infectious diseases in which brown bears and deer are hosts–Does the host or vector determine the infection rate?” and International Joint Research (B) “Nepal “Are rare species infected with lethal infectious diseases? Conservation science of biodiversity hotspots” (both led by Tsubota). In the former, Kotaro Shimizu, a second-year graduate student, explored the ecology of tick-borne infectious diseases in brown bears and deer in Hokkaido as his doctoral thesis (with Associate Professor Ryo Nakao of the Department of Parasitology as his co-supervisor). In particular, deer were caught every month in the Shiretoko Rusha district, and seasonal changes such as tick species, age stages, and parasitic sites on deer were investigated. Looking forward to future analysis results. As part of this project, a brown bear and a deer were fitted with the GPS collar.
Then, we accumulated data on behaviors related to infection patterns (joint research with the Shiretoko Foundation). In addition, from 2022, the status of COVID-19 and other viral infectious diseases in urban wildlife will be newly investigated throught the joint research by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (Principal Researcher Manabu Onuma) and the International Research Institute for Zoonosis (Associate Professor Keita Matsuno). Anastasiia Kovba, a first-year graduate student, is vigorously pursuing this research theme (her co-supervisor is Associate Professor Keita Matsuno). In addition, as a work related to infectious diseases, as a joint research with Associate Professor Ryo Nakao of the Department of Parasitology, the microbiota of harbor seals in a project commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment, “Infectious disease investigation work on the collar population of harbor seals” and the status of distemper infection is under investigation. Relatedly, Yu Amada, a sixth-year student, established a method to exclude host (seal) DNA and detect parasitic eukaryotic DNA. On the other hand, in the latter, his second-year graduate student Arjun Pandit is conducting research aimed at “clarification of the infection status of tuberculosis in wild Asian elephants and other wild animals” (Professor Sadahiko Suzuki and other researchers at IIZC as the colaborators). Also, in his first year of graduate school, Rishi Baral embarked on a research on the ecology of brown bears in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal. He plan to clarify what brown bears eat and how they behave at altitudes over 3,500 meters, mainly through camera traps. For the latter research, in addition to the Kaken, the Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund and the Asahi Glass Foundation were used. As a continuation of the project to estimate the population of brown bears in the Shiretoko Rusha area, which ended last year, Shiori Nakamura (6th year) is conducting research to establish a method for estimating age by judging DNA methylation using brown bear blood, hair, and feces. A research paper was compiled recently (collaborative research with Professor Miho Murayama, Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, and Hideyuki Ito, a veterinarian at the Kyoto City Zoo). In addition, Joshaniel Tan was enrolled as a research student (2nd year), and prepared for research on the relationship between heavy metal accumulation and food habits starting next year (collaborative research with the Department of Toxicology). He has already passed the graduate school exam and will be eligible to receive a scholarship from April. Research on the ecology and infectious diseases of raccoons being pursued by Assistant Professor Mariko Sashika continues, and Mirai Minamikawa, a sixth-year student, clarified the infection status of the distemper virus and compiled her thesis. In addition, Mebuki Ito, 5th year, is vigorously researching tick-borne infectious diseases in raccoons. In addition, Xiaofei Luo, a fourth-year graduate student, has compiled a doctoral dissertation on changes in body temperature and heart rate during hibernation and endocrine regulation in captive Asian black bears (oint research with Kodue Kinoshita, Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University). 

Collaborative research with other institutions: Ecological research on Asiatic black bears in the Ashio region with Professor Koji Yamazaki of Tokyo University of Agriculture (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)) and resistance to muscle atrophy during hibernation in captive Asian black bears with Associate Professor Mitsunori Miyazaki of Hiroshima University. In addition, research by Lecturer Tetsuji Ito (Rakuno Gakuen University), Assistant Professor Yui Nemoto (Tokyo University of Agriculture), and Visiting Researcher Chihiro Takahata were conducted by Dr. Shimozuru. As for social activities, Tsubota, Shimozuru, Saka, and graduate and undergraduate students participated in the activities of academic societies such as the Japanese Society of Veterinary Medicine, the Japanese Society of Wildlife Medicine, the Mammological Society of Japan, and the Ecological Society of Japan. We also actively participated in civic activities such as the Japan bear network. Shiori Nakamura received the Best Presentation Award and the Best Poster Award from the Japanese Society of Veterinary Medicine and the Ecological Society of Japan, respectively (wonderful!). Furthermore, Tsubota led the activities of the Wildlife Disease Society (WDA) as a section chair of the Asia-Pacific section. In addition, three faculty members acted as lecturers at several lectures.
As mentioned above, in 2022 we were able to carry out more active activities than ever before, and we were able to steadily accumulate results in the classroom. Last but not least, I would like to thank Ms. Rika Kikuchi, the secretary for supporting the operation of the classroom. I wish all the alumni the best of luck. Please keep us updated. We look forward to hearing from you.