Wrangel Island
Russian Scientist Nikita Ovsyanikov is a member of PBI's Wild Bear Advisory Committee. Click the image to enlarge.
Since 1995, Polar Bears International has provided annual funding to allow research to continue on Wrangel Island in Russia's High Arctic. The island is well known for its large concentrations of polar bears and supports the highest density of polar bear dens in the world.
PBI became involved in the project after the collapse of the Russian economy threatened to end a long-term study of the island's polar bears by well-known scientist Nikita Ovsyanikov and his colleagues.
Having a presence on the island has helped discourage poachers and has allowed Ovsyanikov to record the changes in ice coverage—and bear numbers—on the remote outpost.
Over the past few years, Ovsyanikov has recorded changes in weather patterns and a significant decline in polar bear numbers. Ovsyanikov suggests that at least three factors may be responsible for the population drop:
1. Increased hunting and poaching in the Chukotka region over the last decade.
2. Increased polar bear mortality due to climate change and reduced ice coverage.
3. Distribution changes in polar bear populations in response to dramatic changes in ice coverage. For example, he believes that some bears may have moved from the East Siberia sector, which has experienced a dramatic reduction in the sea ice, to the Canadian sector, which has more substantial ice coverage.
In addition to Ovsyanikov's spring and fall field observations, he urges population studies that utilize satellite telemetry tracking methods in order to obtain a solid data set. He also recommends:
1. The establishment of new protected territories in the Arctic.
2. Effective law enforcement to prevent poaching and quota overtakes.
3. Better management of polar bear-human encounters in order to avoid the shooting of bears in conflict encounters.
4. Increased international cooperation in polar bear research and conservation, as global environmental changes affect all populations of polar bears and may stimulate the redistribution of polar bears in the Arctic.
Ovsyanikov firmly believes that the bears can be saved, but that it will take focused efforts and fact-based management.
PBI became involved in the project after the collapse of the Russian economy threatened to end a long-term study of the island's polar bears by well-known scientist Nikita Ovsyanikov and his colleagues.
Having a presence on the island has helped discourage poachers and has allowed Ovsyanikov to record the changes in ice coverage—and bear numbers—on the remote outpost.
Over the past few years, Ovsyanikov has recorded changes in weather patterns and a significant decline in polar bear numbers. Ovsyanikov suggests that at least three factors may be responsible for the population drop:
1. Increased hunting and poaching in the Chukotka region over the last decade.
2. Increased polar bear mortality due to climate change and reduced ice coverage.
3. Distribution changes in polar bear populations in response to dramatic changes in ice coverage. For example, he believes that some bears may have moved from the East Siberia sector, which has experienced a dramatic reduction in the sea ice, to the Canadian sector, which has more substantial ice coverage.
In addition to Ovsyanikov's spring and fall field observations, he urges population studies that utilize satellite telemetry tracking methods in order to obtain a solid data set. He also recommends:
1. The establishment of new protected territories in the Arctic.
2. Effective law enforcement to prevent poaching and quota overtakes.
3. Better management of polar bear-human encounters in order to avoid the shooting of bears in conflict encounters.
4. Increased international cooperation in polar bear research and conservation, as global environmental changes affect all populations of polar bears and may stimulate the redistribution of polar bears in the Arctic.
Ovsyanikov firmly believes that the bears can be saved, but that it will take focused efforts and fact-based management.