21 Aug
2006 - Vankarem, Russia – In an effort to reduce
human-wildlife conflict in Russia’s northeast,
locals are taking matters into their own hands
to control polar bear populations.
Local people from the coastal
village of Vankarem in Chukotka, Russia’s farthest
northeast region on the shores of the Bering Sea,
have created a unique “bear group” with support
from WWF-Russia to patrol and monitor polar bears
during their winter migration season, which lasts
from September to January.
Because the village of Vankarem
lies on the path of the polar bear’s migration
route they often come in close contact, and in
conflict, with humans. In January this year, for
example, a young girl from a neighbouring village
was killed in a polar bear attack.
The fatality, as well as other
incidents, led village locals, together with the
Association of the Native Peoples of the North,
to create a four-person bear team to patrol the
surrounding areas and ward off any potential polar
bears that come too close to town. They are also
mandated to protect a large walrus rookery in
the area.
“It is very important that the
bear group initiative comes from the local people
themselves,” said Viktor Nikiforov, Director of
WWF-Russia’s regional programmes.
“Native people who deal with
the human-polar bear conflict have the best idea
of what they need to protect themselves and their
natural resources.”
Under a Russian-American agreement
on polar bear management in Chukotka and Alaska,
a limited quota for polar bear hunting by native
people is in the works. The newly-organized bear
groups will help in monitoring those quotas, especially
as more than 100 polar bears are being illegally
hunted throughout many coastal villages in Russia’s
Far East.
END NOTES:
• The polar bear (Ursus maritimus)
is the world’s largest terrestrial carnivore,
measuring more than 2.5m in length and weighing
around 800kg. They can be found in northern Canada,
Alaska, Greenland, Norway and Russia.
• Although polar bears are not
currently endangered, scientists believe that
polar bears may disappear within 100 years as
a result of over-hunting, habitat loss and climate
change. Toxic chemicals transported to the Arctic
from the south also have long-term effects on
polar bear health and longevity, while oil exploration
in the Arctic affects polar bears by fragmenting
and disturbing their habitat further, and by introducing
oil and other toxic substances to their environment.
In addition, rising temperatures in the southern
Arctic may mean less sea ice, leading to less
healthy polar bears. Reduced body condition can
lead to lower reproduction rates, which in the
long run could lead to local extinction. This
situation is expected to extend to other parts
of the Arctic given current climate change scenarios.
Viktor Nikiforov, Regional Programmes Director
Daria Kudryavtseva, Press Officer
