A polar bear chewed on a temperature monitor and took a selfie in the Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve in Chukotka, the personnel of this specially protected natural area wrote in a social media post.

First the predator inspected the recorder and bit it several times, which did not damage the equipment but produced several photographs of the animal’s muzzle.

“Polar bears are highly inquisitive and like to take a taste of everything they encounter, which created a big problem for us when we needed to add temperature data loggers to the island’s network of equipment for monitoring changes in the local microclimate,” said Alexander Gruzdev, director of the Wrangel Island reserve. “Since it is difficult to put up poles with recording equipment in the tundra, we used empty barrels and racks. The bears became attracted to them immediately. By the way, they are interested in trap cameras as well, if not more so.” 

(Photo © Ulyana Babiy)