Russian remote island declares emergency after ‘invasion’ by Polar Bears

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A state of emergency has been declared in a remote Russian settlement on the Polar archipelago of Novaya Zemla after more than 50 polar bears recently rolled into town in search of food, and started wreaking havoc for the locals.

People are fearful of going outside since the aggressive bears are more than capable of mauling a human to death.
This has made daily life in the arctic village even more difficult.

Residents of the remote village are “afraid to go outside” and “daily life is in turmoil”, according to Aleksandr Minayev, deputy head of the local administration.

“Parents are wary of letting children to go to schools and kindergartens,” he made clear.

However, locals cannot shoot the bears because they are an endangered species. The Russian agency tasked with protecting natural resources denied a request by local officials to shoot the bears.

Zigansha Musin, the head of the local government authority, said “I have been in Novaya Zemlya since 1983, yet I’ve never seen such a massive polar bear invasion.”

He added that the polar bears are “literally chasing people and even entering the entrances of residential buildings” as one of the videos posted to YouTube shows.

In the village, 52 polar bears have been spotted entering settlements occupied by people. There have been numerous reports of the wild animals attacking people, entering residences and offices buildings, and rooting through trash.

One official said that six to ten bears can regularly be spotted in the village proper. Schools and nurseries have filed statements saying they are worried about their security.

One resident said the bears are no longer afraid of people and have become “insolent.”

“There are no more enemies. That is they became insolent. This is scary. When they walk under your window at night, it is creepy.”

The town, which boasts about 2,000 residents, is mostly occupied by Russian military personnel. So far, the government in Moscow has promised to send in a team of specialists to deal with the bears.