Rescuers Try To Figure Out How To Save Orphaned Polar Bear Cub
A polar bear cub that appears to have been orphaned has been seen near a small town in the Chukotka region of Russia. Conservationists and locals are struggling to feed the polar bear cub because the concern is that the cub should not become attached to humans if it is to remain in the wild. A number of polar bears live near Ryrkaypiy which is a town in the far North of Russia. One of those polar bears is a cub that appears to be a year-old and who it would seem lost its mother to poachers.
Without help the cub will not survive
Without any assistance the polar bear cub is unlikely to be able to survive since it does not yet know how to hunt. Viktor Nikiforov an expert with the Centre for the Study of Marine Mammals says that the usual course of action for a cub in this situation is to place it in a zoo. However, his team think there is a chance that the polar bear cub can remain in its natural habitat which obviously the more preferable outcomes.
Food is available
What is in the cub’s favour is that where it is roaming is also a summer resort for walruses. As the walruses migrate for winter the coastline is filled with the carcasses of dead mammals. This means that polar bears can feast on the bodies of the dead walruses. However even though there is plenty of available food on offer scavenging for the cub may pose problems. This is because as the temperature falls, the carcasses freeze making it impossible for a young bear to chew on.
Giving the cub a chance
Early last month the baby bear entered the Russian town looking for food and ended up attacking a dog. To prevent the cub from starving and save the town from harassment, the conservation team headed out to the plains on their snowmobiles. They gathered some dead walruses and softened them up using chainsaws which would allow the polar bear cub to eat on its own without having to enter to the settlement in search of food.
Human should avoid developing a bond
Whilst it might sound like a lot of fund to go feed a cutecuddle polar bear cub, it is inevitable that it will eventually mature into ascary predator. Establishing a bond between humans and bears could end up beingfatal for both. Mature polar bears could end up attacking people and end upbeing shot dead in response. Another problem is that bear cubs that are fed byhumans will not learn how to hunt and this means that they will be unable tosurvive on their own making life in a zoo enclosure their only option. Surely,we can do better than that?
