TOKYO - More than 40 percent of local governments responding to a surge in bear encounters in Japan have received abusive complaints or gruelingly long phone calls, according to a survey. The Japanese government selected 40 prefectural and municipal governments for the survey, with 17 saying responses to bear-related complaints had disrupted their operations. Among the 17 local governments, 10 reported complaints that required a lengthy response such as phone calls lasting more than an hour, while five said they had been inundated with complaints through their websites and by email. and repeated phone calls from the same individual saying, "Put the governor on the phone." Japan reported more than 50,000 bear encounters in the year through March, a record high and double the year-earlier level, government data showed.