Polar Bears Take Over Abandoned Research Station in Russian Arctic
Polar Bears Take Over Abandoned Research Station in Russian Arctic
A group of polar bears have taken over the island and now live among its abandoned buildings
A group of up to 20 bears lives undisturbed on Kolyuchin Island, in Russia’s Chukchi Sea
Others show the bears relaxing, yawning, lying on stairs and sitting on the floor.
Some peer through windows while others are seen exploring the island’s terrain.
‘Bears are no strangers to the feeling of comfort and coziness,’ he wrote in a social media post. ‘They perceive homes as shelter.’
In another post, he wrote: ‘Polar bears like to occupy at home. This happens not only in Kolyuchin. Any polar base with its door open is at risk of getting new furry inhabitants.
‘For example, at the ZFI in Pacific Bay, where the very first Soviet polar station is preserved, there are also many such houses.
‘And before you feel calm on the base, you need to walk and look at every house, make some noise so that the bears move away from people.
‘Polar bears also try to break into residential polar bases. To prevent this from happening, polarists put bars with spikes on the windows, put ‘bear slippers’ – boards with nails in front of the door.
‘Bears certainly don’t step on nails or get traumatized. They see them and just don’t climb the door.’
The polar bears on Kolyuchin Island are not the first to take over an arctic weather station.
Scientists were forced to drive away dozens that besieged a station in Troynoy island, in the Kara Sea north of Siberia in 2016.
Five scientists based at the station were encircled by 10 adult bears and some cubs.
Two resident dogs were killed by the bears, while one female bear spent the night beneath its windows.
A nearby ship reached the island and supplied the scientists with dogs and flares to scare them off.
Before the ship arrived, scientists were advised to ‘use extreme caution’ and to remain inside the station.
-polar-bears-taken-Russian-island-live-buildings from The Daily Mail.UK
