Environmentalists say climate change to blame for weary polar bear's arrival in Russian village
An exhausted and frail polar bear wandered into a village in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula this week, more than 430 miles away from where it should be, environmental activists said Wednesday.
"Due to climate change, the Arctic is getting warmer, hunting environment gets smaller and less convenient," Greenpeace's Vladimir Chuprov told The Guardian. "The ice is receding, and polar bears look for new ways to survive. And the easiest way is coming to people."
Residents of Tilichiki have been feeding the bear fish, and say it hasn't shown any signs of aggression, Russian media reports. Authorities on the peninsula are working on a plan to get the bear back to the village of Chukotka, and will likely attempt the rescue later this week. As of now, the plan is to sedate the polar bear, and use a helicopter to airlift it back up north.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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