Nikita Ovsyanikov, a researcher from Wrangel Island natural park in Chukotka, a remote Artic region, has spent the past 18 years studying polar bears and says that more polar bears are dying as a result of melting ice and increased killings by humans.
Ovsyanikov says, "If this tendency continues, the population will disappear very quickly.”
According to Ovsyanikov , the rapidly melting ice sheet forces polar bears to live on land in the summer, where they have trouble finding food. The bears are then forced to scavenge in local villages, where they are likely to be shot.
He also says, "We need to create new protected areas in the Arctic.”
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, for which Ovsyanikov has done studies, estimates that around 100 polar bears are killed illegally in Russia every year, as polar fur has gained popularity in the country, although it against the law to shoot them, except as self-defense.
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