Polar Bear 'Invasion'
 

Hello

I heard this on the radio today and checked online for further information. Looks like the polar bears are moving to a remote settlement in search of food. People are afraid to send children outside or to schools because of the mass 'invasion' of polar bears spotted outdoors and some were even seen inside buildings. Polar bears are considered endangered, which means that the locals are not allowed to shoot them due to their declining numbers - even after there have been reports of polar bears chasing people. Their plan is to relocate all 50+ polar bears without any harm.

Emergency declared after 50 polar bears 'invade' Russian town

Lepus

I can understand people being afraid of them but way I look at it is The animals were there before humans,
the land where they can hunt for food is getting less and less. because humans are taking the land. but that is the way I look at it.


Namaste

All animal species are part of the global ecosystem and endangered species should absolutely be protected..
Lets hope all goes well.

Hello


Good point. And it doesn't help that the Arctic ice is melting making it difficult for polar bears to hunt seals from atop the sea ice, which could explain why polar bears have wandered in communities in search of food. But I do agree that it's their land and not necessarily an 'invasion'.

Lepus

Hello


I'll keep on update on this, but I have read that authorities will allow locals to shoot polar bears as a last resort if the polar bears persist on remaining there while attacking people. Lets hope they don't resort into killing them.

Lepus

Hi Lepus,
I’m afraid there’s a good chance the bears will not survive this. Predator animals in particular get a lot of bad rep.
Having said that, Putin did play an important role in Amur tiger conservation so there might be hope..

This is very sad but it reminds me of my feelings and thoughts that humankind is here to help animals prosper and evolve in ways, obviously the opposite of what has mostly gone on.. but it is not too late, there are still things we can do to correct our errors and then from there we can redeem ourselves further with new innovations or renovations... ie stuff like creating nature-friendly pathways and habitat alternatives where needed. I mean if a freeway or something has interfered with animals being able to get to one place or another, then we could build a special kind of bridge specifically for them, and I guarantee we could find ways to get many animals to use these types of things.

Another project we could have been doing a long time ago is building gardens for animals, because even carnivores would like to eat garden-fresh food if they have the option. and this is going to sound even more out there, but this Mr Flanagan guy did some experiments with Pyramids and a happy side effect of his research was discovering that his cat (and several others' pets) chose to turn themselves vegetarian after having spent time in the pyramid models. made me think of Egypt and the great sphinx and the pyramids there and perhaps part of their original purpose involved evolved things along those lines.. but anyways, we could and should be such a positive force for the animals and I think that is part of our purpose on this planet, we've just gotten so far away from that and our harmonious ties to nature and obligation therein..

Such wildlife bridges are already in place in many countries. They help but what truly helps is creating strong network of connected nature areas. The problem here is that those areas tend to be small and continue to shrink. A second problem is that most governments don't really care about such matters and it's just not high on the agenda. It's always far more likely nature continues to be razed to the ground for intensive agriculture, and cattle ranching is usually the biggest issue across the world..

If everyone were to give up eating beef and pork and all large mammals we'd have a continentally sized area available for wildlife and robust nature network systems..

Yes.. one way is for people to actually have a garden, not just a field of grass or stone. Increasingly people think it takes too much time (time that is better spend on FaceBook, apparently...) and they'd rather have just rocks or grass in their garden. Insects are seen as disgusting because people think it's all mosquitoes and fleas, but all insects, the pretty ones and the less pretty ones are necessary for birds, just like flowers are necessary for many insects..

Hello

There's a team going around putting fences around open areas near the village to prevent the bears from reaching close to homes and buildings. The locals are using their cars for transportation instead on foot. They were also given instructions on how to fend off bears when getting close to one without causing any harm. The team is looking to sedate and haul all polar bears to a different location. But the people will have to do their part by removing garbage from their town to prevent polar bears from arriving in mass numbers. Otherwise, polar bears will continue to approach their village if garbage remains on display.

I've read that the community haven't successfully scared off the polar bears by car horns, shooting in the air, or loud noises. So they will have to remain vigilant of any polar bears getting close to their homes. But I feel that they will have to resort on shooting some of the polar bears. Trying to relocate all 50+ will take some time. And the people living there will not have the patience and time to wait for authorities to remove all 50+ polar bears. Especially if the bears continue to chase and attack people. However, they are aware of living on their land and polar bears are classified as endangered animals. This might refrain the locals from shooting them. But we will see.

@Sapphirez
I won't deny that there are good people out there helping animals, but the problem animals face today comes from humans. And the more human population increases the more resources and space humans will take from this planet causing the animals to have less food and habitat to live in. What we can do is for each of us to do our part by spreading awareness and actively help the natural environment through recycling, planting, using less plastic, and so on. Join a community that protects certain species of animals. Start petitions for others to join and sign to prevent habitat destruction. Donate towards different programs that help and rescue animals from extinction. Because the government will certainly not help protect and preserve this planet. I don't want to get into conspiracy but many are blaming the government for poisoning the crops; the air we breathe in, and the waters we drink. Many insects are on decline because of this. And I agree build a garden for insects and wild animals.

The pyramid sounds interesting. I'lll have to check that out. However, carnivores are needed to balance out the number of herbivores out in the wild. But I have seen cats and dogs eat only veggies. Thanks for sharing!

Lepus

The issue of species' decline has so many causes, but save to say the drive for increasing scale economics and producing as much as possible with as little obstacles as possible is one of the major causes. Other being that we use land rather inefficiently. If you're a meat eater it is much better for instance to go with chicken instead of beef and pork, since larger animals require more food, space, and water and that means the land isn't used for some other purpose or left to the wildlife..

Often we hear about overpopulation, and whilst this plays a role it is also true that poorer countries have less environmental impact despite having larger populations. How and what we consume plays a much bigger role..

It really saddens me how we can turn such a beautiful world into one with only more roads, buildings, and especially monoculture landscapes near devoid of life. What we are effectively doing is creating a global desert as far as biodiversity is concerned. It's painful to look at what we're doing, and it's a shame that human development and progress often doesn't go hand in hand with improvement of the environment. How and why these bears go south is likely connected to all these other issues.

We do not have the power to change everything we do but we can all ask ourselves what we can do, not what we can't..