Belushya Guba, a hamlet in the Novaya Zemlya islands, in the Russian Arctic, has seen dozens of polar bears invade homes and businesses in an apparent search for food. As climate change wreaks havoc on the bears’ normal habitat, they’ve increasingly entered human habitations to root for things to eat. Police have tried scaring off the bears in patrols, but the animals have grown bold and lost whatever fear they had of people. Police are heavily guarding schools and businesses and the Russian government has declared a state of emergency in the area. “I’ve been on Novaya Zemlya since 1983,” said an official in a press release. “There’s never been such a mass invasion of polar bears.” Moscow is reportedly sending investigators to see what else they can do.
Maybe start with not leaving a mountain of trash out in the open? Just a thought.
Absolutely.
I’m disappointed at the medias’ continuing use of the terms “invade/invasion/invading” etc. The bears are just hungry, or worse, starving. Terms such as the ones above only serve to imply some kind of agenda or malevolence on the part of the bears. They imply that we humans are quietly going about our business – going to work, school, shopping, but then these damn invading bears! Maybe we should kill them so we can resume our peaceful ways?!