Meteorologists on Russia's remote Izvesti Tsik Islands have been trapped in their base for almost two weeks after being besieged by polar bears, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday.
A dozen polar bears began to stake out
the weather station on Aug. 31 after eating one of the
scientists' dogs, station chief Vadim Plotnikov told TASS. The five
staff members are unable to leave the building, he said.
"The
bears have actually been spending the night under our window since
Saturday,” said Plotnikov. “It's dangerous to go outside, and
we've had to stop some of our work.”
The team have used up all of their
supplies for scaring away the bears, and only receive supplies from
the mainland once a month, Plotnikov said. He said that the scientists needed squibs — devices which cause small but
harmless explosions — to convince the bears to leave.
“Delivering the squibs from the mainland will require third-party funds, but we need help,” he told TASS.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 polar bears live in Russia, mostly in the arctic regions of Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya and Chukotka. The Izvesti Tsik Islands are found in the southern region of the Kara Sea, on the northern coast of Siberia. Three people are attacked by polar bears every year, according to the charity Polar Bears International.
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