Russian Arctic archipelago sounds alarm over aggressive polar bears

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MOSCOW, Feb 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Russian Arctic archipelago on Saturday
declared an emergency situation over an “invasion” of dozens of aggressive
polar bears that have entered homes and public buildings.

Russia’s northeastern Novaya Zemlya archipelago, which has a population
of around 3,000 people, has appealed for help to tackle “a mass invasion of
polar bears into inhabited areas,” regional authorities said in a statement.

Russian authorities have so far refused permission to shoot the bears but
are sending a commission to investigate the situation and have not ruled out
a cull.

Polar bears are affected by global warming with melting Arctic ice
forcing them to spend more time on land where they compete for food.

They are recognised as an endangered species in Russia and hunting them
is banned.

Russia has air force and air defence troops based on Novaya Zemlya.

Since December, 52 polar bears have regularly visited the archipelago’s
main settlement, Belushya Guba, with some displaying “aggressive behaviour,”
local official Alexander Minayev said in a report to regional authorities.

This included “attacks on people and entering residential homes and
public buildings,” said Minayev, the deputy chief of the local
administration.

“There are constantly 6 to 10 bears inside the settlement,” he said.

“People are scared, they are afraid to leave their homes… parents are
frightened to let their children go to schools and kindergartens.”

The head of the local administration Zhigansha Musin said that the
numbers of polar bears were unprecedented.

“I’ve been on Novaya Zemlya since 1983 and there’s never been such a mass
invasion of polar bears,” he told regional officials.

Bears are constantly inside a military garrison and “literally chase
people” he said as well as going into the entrances of blocks of flats.

Local officials complained that measures to scare off polar bears such as
vehicle and dog patrols have not been effective as polar bears feel secure
and no longer react.

The federal environmental resources agency has refused to issue licences
to shoot the most aggressive bears.

A working group of regional and federal officials is set to visit the
archipelago to assess the situation and the measures taken so far.

The Arkhangelsk regional authorities, which oversee Novaya Zemlya, said
that if all else failed “shooting the animals could be the only possible
forced measure.”

In January, a defence ministry official said that hundreds of disused
military buildings had been demolished on Novaya Zemlya because polar bears
were settling inside them.