56 hungry polar bear besiege village in Chukotka

Abnormally warm weather in Russia’s easternmost region caused a polar bear ’siege’ with 56 predators gathered at a site near the village of Ryrkaipiy. 

‘Nearly all polar bears are skinny. There are adult bears, adolescents and mother bears with cubs of different ages’, said Tatiana Minenko, head of the WWF Polar Bear Patrol in Ryrkaipiy. 

The animals are currently feeding on seal carcasses left around Cape Kozhevnkov.

These were left from early autumn when thousands of seals stayed there. 

The seals left the rookery in November and there won’t be a top up on food. 

Residents of Rirkaipiy are used to seeing polar bears in close proximity.

For several years they have run a Bear Patrol to make sure there is no conflict between humans and the predators.

Yet even they admit that having such a ‘crowd’ of polar bears is quite rare.

The bears arrived at Cape Kozhevnkov within three or four days. 

On 5 December a brigade of the Bear Patrol counted up 56 polar bears .

Two rangers Tatiana Minenko and Maksim Deminov are working around the clock, driving about the village several times at day and night to prevent potential clashes. 

Their main task is prevent the polar bears entering the village. 

The local administration and volunteers have joined the patrol, driving around with the rangers on snowmobiles and keep an extremely close control over the situation.

There are guards on duty next to local kindergarten and school.

All public events like preparation for end of year concerts, rehearsals, and local gatherings were cancelled for the duration of the bear ‘invasion’.

Children are driven to school and kindergarten and back home in buses.

Residents of Rirkaipiy are used to seeing polar bears in close proximity. Picture: Tatiana Minenko