Video: Russian Town Invaded by Polar Bears
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An island in the Russian Arctic is home a small town called Belushya Guba. It has a population of less than 2,000 and is known for the nuclear tests which the USSR carried out nearby decades ago.
Russia's Novaya Zemlya is considering a cull to repel a "mass invasion" of polar bears, like this 1 in a young family's hallway. 52 bears counted in Belushya Guba. They should be hunting seals on sea ice but global warming is driving them to land @joli_mai https://t.co/h0HTZ3zWln pic.twitter.com/xYofvdizXb
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 10, 2019
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 10, 2019
However, international interest in the settlement has spiked in recent days due to the release of striking videos depicting a veritable invasion of polar bears. Scientists speculate that a decline in sea ice has led the bears to seek new habitat and sources of food. Videos of a dozen or so bears rummaging through a garbage dump seems to lend credibility to that theory. For whatever reason, the bears are now spending a concerning amount of time in town, triggering a regional
state of emergency.
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What man is doing to the planet: polar bears on a rubbish dump in Novaya Zemlya, Siberia. How dispiriting. pic.twitter.com/NwBHDmg82l
— PeterMurtagh (@PeterMurtagh) February 10, 2019
Shooting polar bears is illegal in Russia, which has so far prevented a cull of the bears. However, it's hard to say what will happen if no other strategy for mitigating the danger presented by roaming polar bears is unearthed.
