This polar bear and its lost mother wandered some 700 km too far south 'because they couldn't go north'. She had taken up residence near a fishing plant on the Kolyma River, where locals fed her on throwaway fish. Photo: Ministry of Nature Protection of Yakutia

By Olga Gertcyk
16 October 2017
(The Siberian Times) – This animal and its lost mother wandered some 700 km too far south “because they couldn’t go north” and got confused.This bear hit the headlines a few weeks ago after being spotted so far from the Arctic coastline – but its extraordinary achievement in finding its way so far south, deep into dangerous brown bear territory, is now attracting expert attention. The young beast, only ten months old, was found near a fishing plant on the Kolyma River, where locals fed the cub throwaway fish. The off-course animal, hundreds of miles from its natural habitat, was successfully captured, and the plan was to release it into its favoured cold territory  on an Arctic island.Yakutia regional wildlife expert Fedor Yakovlev says northern regions are seeing an increase in cases when bears approach reindeer herders and remote fishermen. “Recently in the month of August on the coast in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, polar bears are beginning to appear,” he said. They were unknown here until around 2005. “The thawing of Arctic ice as a result of global warming has led to an expansion of the polar bear migration area, and now they are reaching out to human settlements more often,” he explained. “Because of the rapid thawing of ice, some bears die at the ice holes as they swim, others – go to people.” [more]

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