Russia saw a mass invasion of polar bears in February 2019, according to a report by the Tass news agency. The Northeastern Novaya Zemlya is a Russian archipelago stretching into the Arctic Ocean, with 3,000 human population. Dozens of polar bears were seen trying to enter homes, civic buildings, and inhabited areas. The Arkhangelsk Oblast authorities declared a state of emergency on the 16th of February 2019. Polar bears are usually born on land but will live on sea ice during their lifetime. Bear's diets need high amounts of fat and protein, so usually they hunt prey like seals that have those macronutrients in abundance. 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 didn't want to leave their homes, so their planned daily routines was stopped. "Parents are afraid to let the children go to school or kindergarten," Minayev said. He also said that "They 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. Also, vehicle patrols and dogs weren't successful in deterring them. A team of experts had been dispatched to the Arctic region to remove polar bears coming into the inhabited area and its vicinity.
Russia's World Wildlife Fund said "Today, polar bears are entering human areas more frequently than in the past and climate change is the reason. Global warming 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 UKanimal conservation charity Born Free Foundation told CNN 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. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated that there are between 22,000 and 31,000 polar bears worldwide. According to a 2013 study in the journal Nature, 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
Polar bears do not usually hunt humans, as their diet is predominantly sea mammals, but a close encounter with them can result in serious injury or death. 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." Also, the administration has asked the national nature protection watchdog for permission to shoot and kill the most aggressive bears. The watchdog denied this request but did designate a team of specialists to try and tackle the problem without unnecessary violence.
