On 28 March, an expedition will set off from the town of Chersky in the Nizhnekolymsky District of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) to the Medvezhyi (Bear) Islands. Researchers will explore family dens of polar bears and help protect female bears with cubs against poachers.

“Over two weeks, we will have to cover hundreds of kilometres of sea ice in the Kolyma Bay of the East Siberian Sea in snow vehicles,” said the expedition’s head, Viktor Nikiforov. “Late March-early April is a time when female bears with cubs come out of their dens and become an easy target for poachers.”

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the first expedition to the Medvezhyi  Islands, which took place in 2007.

The expedition is organised by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Sakha Republic in cooperation with the Four Seasons company.   

(Photo © Viktor Nikiforov)