Polar bear tracks have been spotted at Beringia National Park, RIA Novosti reported, citing the park’s press service.

On 1 February, park inspectors patrolling two areas near the Avan sandpit noticed bear paw prints. The bear roamed around the former village, slid down a slope and dug three deep holes where houses once were.  

The paw prints, around 30 centimetres in size, headed westwards past Cape Lysaya Golova. In all probability, the bear visited the village just a couple of days ago. State environment inspectors Alexander Borovik and Natalya Kalyuzhina searched the sandpit near Lake Karpovka and found small and larger paw prints, apparently those of a female bear and one or two cubs.

“Numerous traces of ‘bear chutes’ were spotted on the western slope of Mount Ostanets (a mountainous area on Cape Chukotsky). Park employees will continue monitoring the area over the coming days to verify the presence of polar bears near the village of Provideniya,” the report says.