The dead body of a young female polar bear has been found on the western coast of Shokalsky Island in the Kara Sea during a helicopter survey of the territory. Specialists found an entry bullet hole in the body of the bear, which likely was wounded by poachers and then died.

The information about the killed animal was passed on to the police.

“We are concerned about the situation in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area,” head of WWF Russia’s Bear Patrol programme Viktor Nikiforov said. “Such incidents occur quite often, and most of them go unpunished. Two years ago, the area’s police seized two polar bear skins and skulls in Novy Urengoy. The investigation found that the crime took place in the Tazovsky District – but no poachers were brought to account in the end,” he said.

For preservation of the polar bear population in Yamal, the active efforts taken by the police must be accompanied by consistent work with local residents, workers at gas field camps and members of geological expeditions, Nikiforov said.

(Photo © Viktor Nikiforov)