In the middle of the frozen landscapes of mar de Chukotkanortheast of Russiaa have found a new refuge: the remains of a abandoned soviet weather station more than three decades ago in the isla Kolyuchin.
Drone images show the animals wandering between collapsed buildings, peering through broken windows and resting in rooms where meteorologists and scientists once worked. The scene, as overwhelming as it is symbolic, reflects not only the polar bears’ adaptive capacitybut also the effects of human abandonment and of in the Arctic.
The Russian photographer Vadim Makhorov He was the one who discovered the unusual scene while flying over the island with a drone. “Polar bears are extremely dangerous predatorsbut why do they look so adorable and friendly in the photos?” he wrote in a Facebook post in which he attached several images of these animals.
In another publication, Makhorov points out that “Bears like to occupy houses”. “I think they see them as shelter from wind, rain and other things. In general, they get along well there,” he told Reuters.
Other images also show dozens of bears exploring the complex, converted into a kind of “white village” where humans have been replaced by the large carnivores of the Arctic. “Not far from the houses there is a walrus farmand about 20 bears (if not more) actively run around the island. What an interesting neighborhood!” says the photographer.
Likewise, he details that this is not an isolated event, but that “Any polar base with the door open runs the risk of getting new furry inhabitants”. “For example, in the EPZ in the Pacific Bay, where the first Soviet polar station is preserved, there are also many such houses. And before you feel calm at the base, you have to walk and look at each house, as well as make a little noise so that the bears get away from people,” he details.
The presence of these animals has led the people who continue to reside there to take measures to keep them away: “They place spiked bars on the windows and they put ‘bear slippers’ (boards with nails) in front of the doors. Of course, bears don’t step on nails, they don’t get injured. “They see them and they just don’t come to the door.”
From scientific station to involuntary sanctuary
Kolyuchin Island, located in the far east of Russia, was a key point for the soviet investigation. In 1934, the Soviet Union established a polar station there to support the route of the Northern Sea Routethe sea route that connects the Arctic Ocean with the Pacific. For decades, the facility played an important role in studying the climate, ecosystems and marine biology of the Arctic.
However, after the collapse of the in 1991the station was abandoned the following year. Over time, the buildings became empty and the island, completely uninhabited, became a wildlife refuge. Polar bears, looking for places to rest or hunt, began using the ruins as temporary shelter during their movements through the ice of the Chukchi Sea.
Their presence is not coincidental: the region is home to one of the most important populations of polar bears on the planet, although its survival is seen .
Climate change: the real threat
The loss of sea ice in the Arctic, caused by the global warmingis the greatest danger to the species. As the ice recedes, bears lose their traditional hunting grounds, forcing them to move more time on land and approach inhabited areas or, as in Kolyuchin, to abandoned structures that offer shelter.
An estimates that the probability of a reduction of more than 30% in the world population of polar bears over the next three generations (35-41 years) is 71%. The risk of even greater losses, of 50% or more, is considered low, but not negligible, depending on how the climate and conservation policies evolve.
Given this, the Polar Bear Specialist Group (GEP) works to coordinate and disseminate scientific information to ensure the long-term viability of polar bears and their habitats. Under the mandate of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it is made up of scientists who collaborate with the five polar bear range States: Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia y USA.
“The group’s work is as important now as it was in the 1960s, when PBSG was founded,” . “Scientific research, improved harvest management and the 1973 Polar Bear Conservation Agreement have addressed some threats, but The main challenge of the 21st century remains the loss of sea ice“he adds.
