50 Polar Bears Searching For Food Invade Russian Town,
Terrifying Residents
“People are scared. They are frightened to leave homes, and
their daily routines are broken.”
By Carla Baranauckas
In what is being called a consequence of climate change,
more than 50 polar bears have invaded a Russian settlement in the Arctic,
forcing terrified residents to stay in their homes, according to news reports.
The settlement, Belushya Guba, is on the Novaya Zemlya
archipelago off Russia’s northeast coast and has a population of about 2,500.
Officials declared a state of emergency on Saturday after
reports of bears attacking people and entering homes, CNN said.
“People are scared,” local administrator Alexander Minayev
told CNN. “They are frightened to leave homes, and their daily routines are
broken. Parents are afraid to let the children go to school or kindergarten.”
Because polar bears are protected in Russia, residents are
prohibited from killing the hungry intruders, The New York Times said. The
settlement has put up additional fences in an effort to control the bears.
Generally, polar bears are born on land but spend most of
their time on ice sheets and in the water, where they hunt and feed on seals,
The Washington Post said. The World Wildlife Fund says that climate change has
been shrinking their sea ice habitat.
Local administrator Zhigansha Musin was quoted by Russia’s
state news agency as saying, “I have been in Novaya Zemlya since 1983, but
there have never been so many polar bears in the vicinity.”
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