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THREE RESEARCHERS on the north Russian island of Vaygach have been trapped in their remote station by hungry polar bears.
WWF Russia reports that fights between the bears, who have settled next to Fyodorov weather station, have broken out over food.
The team of two meteorologists and one engineer failed to scare the bears away with flares and they have no other weapons.
The WWF conservation group says the Russian government has pledged help them.
One of the meteorologists said the bears sleep near the house. She described the bears as being very aggressive and said they often fight near the house.
The researchers are meant to take measurements at sea twice a day.
However the workers said it is too dangerous as they would need to walk a few hundred metres.
Program manager Viktor Nikiforov said “people living in the Arctic must be prepared to face polar bears”.
However, he said the staff have no weapons or means to deter the bears.
The WWF said it is currently preparing a formal appeal to the district administration asking for Fedorov station to be supplied with the necessary equipment and means to scare off the polar bears.
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Puts are own problems and concerns into a different perspective.
Where has the humanity gone? Climate change is manifesting itself every day in some or other part of the world.
These poor people, just trying to live and look after their families, totally powerless in the face of what the climate is doing to them, dependent on the charity and goodwill of others.
And on the other hand, you have the like of Putin and Johnson, selfish, power hungry men, totally oblivious to the suffering they are causing to the people around them.
I fear for the future of the world and if there is a God, I hope that he balances things out for all of mankind, and soon.
@Mary Walshe: We can’t wait to have perfect leaders or perfect climate or even for a god to do something. People are dying right now and we can change that Right now all those people need is food and surely you and i and everyone else can do that. I’m glad they can depend in a little way on their fellow man to help them ,ie charities. So until that better world comes let’s just put our hands in our pockets and help. That’s humanity, in action! It’s in our control.
Ever since I was a little boy and that was not yesterday, there has been famine and suffering in Africa. Charities have applied much needed ‘plasters’ to each problem but the problems continue. Politicians have bled their people dry and created vast wealth for themselves in the process and local politicians have used their positions in well paid jobs in charities as stepping boards to better paid jobs in politics, where they promote themselves and forget about the charities. Donations, much of which go, not to those in need but to CEO’s salaries and collectors commission. A radical approach has to be taken and focused on the political systems within those countries by those World bodies i.e. the U.N. so little starving girls can plan for their long term future. Charities know that without tackling the politicians/U.N. etc they, albeit unintentionally, prolong the little girls suffering and lack of hope. Plasters won’t prevent hunger. These people deserve better.
@Barrycelona: Very true. But also, what kind of person has numerous kids knowing that some or all of them will die from malnutrition or starvation because they can’t take care of them.
@Jim Smith: Poverty!! Just like Ireland in pre war times. It was inevitable that several children would die and that was one of the reasons people had such large families. Poorer families have always had more children. The more children that survived, the greater chance of a bigger ‘ income’. Men also have a lot to answer for, in the way they used and treated women, even in today’s World
@Jim Smith: Poverty!! Just like Ireland in pre war times. It was inevitable that several children would die and that was one of the reasons people had such large families. Poorer families have always had more children. The more children that survived, the greater chance of a bigger ‘ income’. Men also have a lot to answer for, in the way they used and treated women, even in today’s World.
@Barrycelona: Well no matter how poor I was, I wouldn’t have many children knowing that I couldn’t feed all of them and that some will die because I might get more money. That’s sick. The thing is that the Africans that I work with agree with me. The media seems to portray Africans as helpless sadists. Many are highly educated and intelligent people who care if their children live or die.
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