The Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF Russia) on its website expressed concern about incidents with polar bears in the village of Dikson, where one of these predators was recently injured and paralyzed. Now the polar bear is being nursed at the Moscow Zoo: according to veterinarians, the animal was shot and hit hard in the side.
The fund reminded that this is not the first incident with a polar bear in Dikson this year. In July, a bear was found there with a tin can in her mouth, which the animal could find in the garbage heap or get from local residents, although it is strictly forbidden to feed wild animals.
“In recent years, due to the active development of the Arctic and global climate change, meetings with polar bears on the coast during the ice-free period have become more frequent. In addition, due to the development of communication, reports of encounters and incidents with bears began to appear more often in the information space. Thanks to this, it became possible to respond faster to emergencies,” WWF noted.
Experts say that in many communities in the far north, volunteer brigades of Bear Patrols, consisting of local residents, are working to drive animals away from the villages and teach people not to attract predators. But at the moment there is no such detachment in Dixon, as well as a special “anti-conflict” infrastructure - a warning system, video surveillance, fences near socially significant objects.
Meanwhile, in Russia there are successful examples of the use of such infrastructure, for example, on the island of Vaygach, and in the village of Amderma.
“The Foundation is ready to provide Dikson and the Krasnoyarsk Territory with methodological literature, reminders on how to minimize conflicts, and also provide a special anti-conflict video course developed by us jointly with the Moscow Zoo as part of a presidential grant this year,” WWF said.
In addition, the issues of preventing and resolving conflicts with wild animals are not sufficiently developed in the existing legal and regulatory framework. “An analysis conducted by the World Wildlife Fund showed that the practice of feeding rare predators and provocations directed at them is not regulated by law in any way. The introduction of administrative responsibility for at least feeding polar bears and other Red Book predators could ease the situation with conflicts,” WWF experts believe.
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