Russia, terror for killer bears

They killed two men

MOSCOW – These are days of terror in Kamchatka. Brown bears are spreading panic among the inhabitants of the Far Eastern peninsula. Some of these animals, which are three meters tall and weigh about seven hundred kilos, attacked and devoured two men. And now people are afraid to leave home.

A population of thousands of bears live in what is considered one of the “last frontiers” of the world. But lately some of them are approaching population centers, probably driven by hunger. Poaching has in fact led to a drastic drop in Pacific salmon, which these animals feed on.

The protagonist of the most frightening episode is a pack of thirty specimens, which attacked two people who were working in a platinum mine. It was a real ambush: they surrounded the field and went on the attack. Later, the staff, four hundred people including scholars and miners, refused to resume work. And so today four select shooters came into action, to kill the specimens that killed the men.

The animal protection agency has asked, however, to avoid a massacre. Also because the bears are not only killers, but also victims: only last year the hunters have exterminated three hundred.

July 24, 2008