AKITA—A bizarre standoff between police and a marauding bear holed up in a supermarket here finally ended with the animal’s capture on Dec. 2, two days after it broke in and mauled an employee.

An image of a sickly bear with a severed leg sprawling in an enclosure began to circulate on social media a few days ago. His leg was sprinkled over by turmeric-like substance as if to treat it as a ...