An Arctic region of Russia has declared a state of emergency over a polar bear ‘invasion’ which has left people ‘afraid to go outside’.
According to the news agency TASS, A local official, Alexander Minayev, said that 52 polar bears were spotted between December and February near Belushya Guba, a settlement on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean,
Some of the animals have attacked people and entered residential buildings, the news agency said.
The regional government said in a statement, according to TASS, “Residents, schools and kindergartens are submitting numerous oral and written complaints demanding to ensure safety in the settlement,” .
The bears appeared unfazed by dogs, additional fencing around schools and patrol vehicles, TASS reported.
“The people are scared. They are frightened to leave homes and their daily routines are broken. Parents are afraid to let the children go to school or kindergarten.”
A team of experts would be sent to Novaya Zemlya to assess the bears’ behavior, the TASS report said, adding that the country’s environmental watchdog had denied licenses allowing the killing of aggressive bears.
As reported by BBC, Local administration head Vigansha Musin said more than five bears were on the territory of the local military garrison, where air and air defence forces are based.
“I’ve been on Novaya Zemlya since 1983,” he said in an official press release. “There’s never been such a mass invasion of polar bears.”
His deputy said normal life was being disrupted by the threat.
Estimates put the worldwide population of polar bears at 26,000. The animals were listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2008 amid concerns about climate change and reductions in habitat.
The TASS report did not specify a cause for the encounters.
With Arctic sea ice diminishing as a result of climate change, polar bears are forced to change their hunting habits and spend more time on land looking for food – which potentially puts them in conflict with humans.
