Yekaterina Artamonova, head of the department for environmental education and educational tourism at the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, spoke about research on polar bears, their conflicts with humans and ways to prevent them.

- Have there been any recent expeditions to study polar bears?

- Each year the reserve’s employees collect data on the number, distribution and demographic composition of the group of polar bears living on the island.

Another count of dens in the Uering area is scheduled for the beginning of March.

In addition, this autumn the research on the Chukotka-Alaska polar bear population will continue. The Ekologiya research institute and the US Fish and Wildlife Service conduct the research together as part of the agreement between the Russian and US governments on the conservation and use of the Chukotka-Alaska polar bear population.

- An expedition took place on 15 September – 3 October 2018. What data did you receive?

- We took a count of polar bears along their land routes, and spotted 466 bears and 68 family groups in total.

We also collected biological samples for non-invasive genetic identification of the animals.

We recorded the age and sex of the bears when we could see them clearly from a distance and the number and age of the cubs in family groups, as well as their nutritional state, home range, location and behaviour.

- Recently conflicts between humans and polar bears have become more frequent. Why do you think this is happening? How can we minimise such incidents?

- There are several reasons for such conflicts.

The significant change in the ice conditions is the first one. During the open water season, bears cannot hunt effectively and look for food on the coast.

When they go near villages and towns located on the coast or not far from it, predators find dumps with food scraps. Polar bears are not afraid of humans; they have not developed any fear.

The second reason is there are now many people in the Arctic who have no experience living near bears. Unfortunately, they try to use their experience from the mainland.

People do not understand that a polar bear is a wild animal, a predator, and they do not follow the rules set to prevent conflicts with the bears.

Sometimes they begin to feed the animals, which is strictly prohibited. They think it is an act of kindness, but once fed, the bear will associate the person with a source of available food and will try to find them again, which would probably result in an accident.

None of this works in the Arctic. Conflicts are the result, when both people and animals suffer.

- What measures to preserve polar bears do the reserve’s employees take?

 - We constantly work with the locals and patrol the island, too.

In addition, meetings to educate people on polar bear conservation are held at the reserve’s information centre and at the town of Pevek’s schools, kindergarten and college.

Employees speak about the bear’s habit and how to behave in case of encounter; they show films and videos from camera traps.

- What is the status of polar bear protection in Russia?

 - The polar bear is protected by the Russian Red Data Book as well as Russian regions’ similar books. Even though polar bear hunting has been completely banned in Russia since 1 January 1957, there are still cases of poaching, the volume of which is difficult to estimate. In 1973, Arctic countries signed an agreement on the preservation of polar bears, which became a basic international law on the protection, study and use of the species after it was ratified and came into effect in 1976.

The agreement between the Russian and US governments on the conservation and use of the Chukotka-Alaska polar bear population, which entered into force on 27 September 2007, also helps to preserve and restore the species.