Starving bears kill 2 geologists in Siberian outpost

Published on Tuesday 22 July 2008 22:06

AT LEAST 30 hungry bears have trapped a group of geologists at their remote survey site in Russia's far east after killing two of their workmates, emergency officials confirmed yesterday.

The team of geologists on Russia's seismically active Kamchatka peninsula refused to leave their camp after the bears turned up.

"In the interests of safety they didn't come out to work – the people are scared by the invasion of bears," a press spokesman for the Kamchatka emergency services ministry said.

The two geologists were killed at the worksite on 18 July.

Officials at Kamchatka, on the Pacific Ocean, said the unusual situation was either caused by too many bears or not enough fish.

"Either way there is not enough food," the spokesman said.

Rampant fish-poaching in the empty tundra of Russia's farthest reaches sends hungry bear populations into populated centres every year, attracted to the food-rich rubbish humans leave behind.

Officials said a helicopter ferrying officials and hunters could not fly in bad weather, but an all-terrain vehicle was on its way to the camp, where it would await government approval to shoot the bears.

"It looks like a shoot by the hunters won't take place today, as there is still no permission. As soon as we get the document the hunters can get to work," the spokesman said.

As many as 16,000 native brown bears, cousins of the American grizzly, live on Kamchatka, an area twice the size of Great Britain.

An adult male can weigh up to 700kg (107 stones) and stand 10ft tall.