The Russian Arctic is home to thousands of polar bears that range over its 1.5 million square miles of frozen water, islands, and mainland coast. Hunting of polar bears has been prohibited in Russia since 1957 which has helped maintain a stable population and international initiatives like the Arctic World Wildlife Fund have helped train volunteers to haze bears away from villages in the far north, which contributes to minimizing negative encounters that could lead to euthanizing problematic bears.
Despite low human population density and preventive measures, polar bear encounters are very much a danger in the Russia’s arctic region as evidenced by this footage of a group of snowmobilers crossing a snowy expanse in the Republic of Sakha. The lead snowmobiler did not seem overly concerned with the polar bear being able to reach him as he sped past it with his camera in hand but he evidently misjudged the bear’s ability to intersect with the passenger sled he was pulling.
Under normal circumstances, a snowmobile can easily outrun a polar bear which top out at 25mph but when you factor in variable terrain and sled in tow, the margins become much slimmer. Thankfully the passenger eluded the polar bear’s pounce but it was a very near thing.
US Fish & Wildlife Polar Bear Safety Guidelines:
- Prepare your deterrent(s). Do not run from or approach polar bears. If the bear is unaware of you, allow it to continue what it was doing before you encountered it. Move to safe shelter (e.g. vehicle or building) if available, and wait until it is safe to proceed.
- Group up. If no safe shelter is available, group up with others and stand positioned to allow for safe deployment of deterrents (e.g. firearm, pistol launcher, bear pepper spray) – until the bear leaves.
- Observe bear behavior. Polar bears that stop what they are doing to turn their head or sniff the air in your direction have likely become aware of your presence. These animals may exhibit various behaviors:
- Curious polar bears typically move slowly, stopping frequently to sniff the air, moving their heads around to catch a scent, or holding their heads high with ears forward. They may also stand up.
- A threatened or agitated polar bear may huff, snap its jaws together, stare at you (or the object of threat) and lower its head to below shoulder level, pressing its ears back and swaying from side to side.
- A predatory bear may sneak up on an object it considers prey. It may also approach in a straight line at constant speed without exhibiting curious or threatened behavior.
- If a polar bear(s) approaches you or your camp: Defend your group/camp. Any bear that approaches within range of your deterrents should be deterred. Stand your ground; do not run. Defend your group or camp, increasing the intensity of your deterrence efforts as necessary. Be aware that lethal take of polar bears is permissible if such taking is imminently necessary in defense of human life. Defense of life kills must be reported to the Service at 907-786-3311 within 48 hours.
- If bear makes physical contact, fight back. If deterrence/lethal efforts have failed and a polar bear attacks (makes physical contact), do not “play dead”. Fight back using any deterrents available, aiming fists or objects at the bear’s nose and face.