In February 2019, the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n archipelago of

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

experienced a mass invasion of polar bears. Dozens of

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

were seen trying to enter homes, civic buildings, and inhabited areas. The

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

authorities declared a state of emergency on 16 February 2019. According to the local report agency, at least 52 bears entered the area near Belushya Guba, the main settlement on the island. Footage shows the polar bears looking for food in the rubbish at a local dump. Polar bears cannot subsist on a garbage-based diet because of a lack of enough protein and fat. Local administrator Alexander Minayev said at least between 6 and 10 bears came into the settlement's territory. People were frightened and did not want to leave their homes, so their planned daily routines were stopped. "Parents are afraid to let the children go to school or kindergarten," Minayev said. He also said that the bears "literally chased people in the region". Zhigansha Musin, the head of the local administration, said, "There have never been so many polar bears in this area since 1983". Hunting polar bears and shooting them has been prohibited by law in Russia, and vehicle patrols and dogs were not successful in deterring them. A team of experts was dispatched to the

Arctic region The Arctic (; . ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmar ...

to remove polar bears coming into the inhabited area and its vicinity.

Climate change effects

Russia's

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

said "Today, polar bears are entering human areas more frequently than in the past and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

is the reason.

Global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

is reducing sea-ice and this phenomenon forces polar bears to come to land in order to find new sources of food". Liz Greengrass, a director at the UK animal conservation charity Born Free Foundation told

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

that seals are the most popular food for polar bears, but global warming is shrinking their environment, so polar bears must change their food regime. According to a 2013 study in the journal ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', global warming is increasingly affecting the planet more than in the past. Model suggestions say that Arctic sea ice is declining at a rate of 13 percent per decade. Scientists believed this climate change is the main reason for the aggressive behavior of the polar bears.

Aftermath

The local authorities have taken a number of safety measures, such as hunting down designated problem bears, securing a local school with fencing and sending military personnel to their posts by "special vehicles."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polar Bear Polar bears 2019 in Russia Bear attacks Climate change in Russia February 2019 in Russia Novaya Zemlya History of Arkhangelsk Oblast 2019 in the environment