Ivan Mizin, a member of the emergency expert commission in the village of Belushya Guba, a member of the Arkhangelsk branch of the Russian Geographical Society, and deputy director for research at Russian Arctic National Park, spoke about the results of a trip to Novaya Zemlya.

– What were the expert commission’s goals during the visit to Novaya Zemlya?

– The first goal was to assess the situation near the village of Belushya Guba that led to the emergency: the degree of threat, the condition of the polar bears, their population size and age/sex composition. The second one was to examine temporary waste sites: how much they can attract bears and keep them near the village. Third, we had to understand whether there was a threat to the animals themselves.

– What did the commission find out?

Ivan Mizin: The reason for the unusually large number of bears around (around, I’d like to emphasise once again) the village in January 2019 was the lack of ice in the Barents Sea. Animals that have been wintering on the island look for food. Waste, including food scraps, is dumped near the village of Belushya. Before the fast ice formed in the Barents Sea, the animals found food at the dumps. And because of the close vicinity, some of the animals went to the village, where there are also small rubbish tips.

It is worth noting that the very presence of polar bears near Belushya Guba is quite a natural phenomenon – people have got accustomed to this for the decades since the village was built.

– Did the bears behave aggressively?

– No, no attacks were recorded both during our stay there and throughout this winter. But of course, it is very dangerous for such predators to be walking along the streets.

– Did you give any specific recommendations?

– This village is located in the polar bears’ range, and it is impossible to avoid the animals, as they have always lived here. We believe that the ice will continue to shrink and form later in the Barents Sea in the coming years. These are unfavourable factors people will have to put up with, so we recommended that the local authorities and the military establish a special bear patrol. There are a number of regions in Russia where such services operate successfully, for example, the Nenets Autonomous Area, Chukotka and the Far East with its famous Tiger Patrol. This should be a competent service with the necessary equipment to respond to any situation and educated personnel. Of course, it should be an entire service that is engaged in preventing conflicts with polar bears. When there are a lot of predators in the village, it is impossible to resolve such a situation well without such a service, both now and in the future.

– So people should not make friends with polar bears but learn to coexist with them on the same territory?

– Absolutely. So that people can live a normal life, do their job and go about their business, on the one hand. And on the other hand, so that polar bears can live peacefully in natural conditions. This animal is a protected species, and its future is not that promising – it is under threat, in particular because of climate change, and the outlook for the next 20 years is quite unfavourable.

– How does human activity in the Arctic affect animals?

– Another recommendation of the expert commission for the village administration is to streamline the waste collection system. Currently, waste is not removed. This situation must be addressed as soon as possible, within a year or two.

Bears are affected by climate change and human mismanagement. Simply put, now bears do not have to hunt thanks to food waste. If we do not remove it, then bears will probably stop hunting altogether. But this is damaging both for people and animals. This food is not typical for them, which can cause various diseases. As a result, we could get a population of ill, both physically and mentally, animals.

– So, are we witnessing global changes in the natural behaviour of polar bears?

– We can assume that climate change affecting polar bears will also lead to changes in their behaviour. Time will tell how they will adapt, whether they will live on the coast or leave with the ice and not return to the coast in our region. Body size and physiological parameters may also change. I think in the next 20 years we will definitely see changes in the life of polar bears: they will disappear in some places but continue to live in other places.

Interview by Marina Menshikova