An 'exhausted' polar bear turned up in a Russian village 434 miles from its home
Susanna Heller
A polar bear has ended up pretty far from home - and he's giving locals quite the spook.
This week, the estimated 2-year-old bear was spotted in the Russian village of Tilichiki on the country's Kamchatka Peninsula. The bear has been seen roaming around the village, which is 434 miles from his home in Chukotka, CNN reports.
Experts think the bear travelled such a far way by drifting there on an ice floe.
The bear "is exhausted, not aggressive," Alina Ukolova, who saw the bear, told CNN.
Those who have seen the bear have reportedly welcomed the bear to the neighbourhood by feeding it fish. This, evidently, helped.
"Today it felt better and went hunting," Ukolova said.
Experts say the bear, who at this stage in development would typically be near its mother, ended up in Tilichiki because of climate change.
"Due to climate change, the Arctic is getting warmer, hunting environment gets smaller and less convenient," Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace told the Associated Press. "The ice is receding, and polar bears look for new ways to survive. And the easiest way is coming to people."
A plan has been set in motion to execute a rescue mission this week. Authorities in Kamchatka are mobilized to sedate the bear and airlift it back to Chukotka, according to the AP.
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