TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) - The Japanese city of Utsunomiya has suspended all 94 of the primary ‌and middle schools that it operates on Monday ‌after its first-ever bear sighting, a municipal official said.

The city of ​half-a-million residents about 100 km (60 miles) north of Tokyo said the bear was first seen in a residential area near a park on Saturday evening. It remains at ‌large after the ⁠last sighting early Monday morning about half a kilometre from a middle school.

Bear attacks, including ⁠in urban areas, have been on the rise in Japan, prompting the government to set up a task ​force this ​year to reduce casualties.

Last ​week, a bear attack ‌in the northeastern city of Fukushima left at least four people injured. Security footage from Fukushima Steel Works shows a black bear chasing a worker by the entrance of the factory and throwing him to the ground.

Asiatic black ‌bears are listed as a ​vulnerable species globally, but their ​numbers are estimated to ​have tripled in Japan since 2012, helped ‌by a decline in hunting.

Experts ​say climate ​change has reduced harvests of bears' natural food like acorns and beechnuts, while the depopulation of rural ​areas and the ‌proliferation of abandoned farmland have emboldened them to ​seek food near human settlements.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran ​Kim; Editing by Kevin Buckland)