In the first two weeks of August, polar bears visited en masse many townships and villages of the Nenets Autonomous Area. Six or seven bears turned up on Vaigach Island, where the Fyodorov meteo station is located. Three polar bears came one by one to the local village of Varnek.

Polar bears frequently appear on the Arctic Coast near the airport of the Amderma settlement, the ethnic village of Ust-Kara (at one time four polar bears used to come to it) and the Bely Nos (White Nose) meteo station. The young bears that have had no contact with humans and come close to buildings are particularly dangerous.

To prevent conflicts between people and polar bears, the area’s administration, with the assistance from WWF experts, has prepared a programme of urgent measures to bring the situation back to normal. It has promptly delivered bear deterrents and instructed the local population on what to do when encountering polar bears.

The area’s acting governor, Igor Koshin, pointed out: “It is important for the Russian Arctic to preserve the polar bear, which has been listed in Russia’s Red Data Book, and to protect people living on the coast. We support the WWF Bear Patrol project. Nowadays we must promptly resolve environmental issues and involve local people in this effort.”

(Photo © Viktor Nikiforov/Varvara Semyonova)