SOURCE: The Guardian
DATE: June 18, 2019
SNIP: A starving polar bear has strayed hundreds of kilometres from its natural Arctic habitat and wandered, exhausted, into the major Russian industrial city of Norilsk in northern Siberia.
The female bear, visibly weak and seemingly ill, lay despondently on the ground for hours on Tuesday in Norilsk’s suburbs, its feet caked in mud, occasionally rising to sniff around for food.
It is the first polar bear seen in the city in more than 40 years, according to local environmentalists.
“She is still moving around a factory, under observation by police and the emergency services, who are ensuring her safety and those of residents,” environmental services official Alexander Korobkin told AFP.
The bear was first spotted on Sunday evening in an industrial area north-east of central Norilsk, Korobkin said.
A team of specialists are set to arrive Wednesday to inspect the animal and decide its [sic] fate.
The climate crisis has been damaging polar bears’ sea-ice habitats and forced them to scavenge more for food on land, bringing them into contact with people and inhabited areas.