When Arctic gold miners discovered a lost and helpless bear cub whose mother had died, it didn’t take long for her to melt their hearts.
As the orphaned cub grew to trust the men, the furry guest soon felt like a friend to the workers in the remote Severnaya Zemlya archipelago.
In February 2021, the first word emerged about the polar bear cub at the base of the workers. Apparently, the bear was possibly lured by the smell of food, that had been hung around the base. So, the personnel decided to feed her. A few months later, the Bear cub became so acquainted with the miners that they were totally comfortable and even tried to play with them.
“All we knew was that the cub’s mother died and that it was months ago when it discovered the base attracted by the smell of food,” Andrey Gorban, director of Royev Ruchey Zoo in Krasnoyarsk told the Siberian Times.
The video released by The Siberian Times shows this conduct. The polar bear cub climbs a ladder and tries to investigate a nearby window on the picture. The person who captures the footage can be heard giggling loudly as the bear climbs the ladder perfectly. It is a sight to look at! Finally, the bear descends off the ladder and leads to the men. She is rushing over and jumping up to one of them for a hug. The guy gently pets the bear like a big dog. The bear seems totally peaceful and even glad to be with the people shown in the video.
Gorban added, “We only knew that the cub’s mother was dead and that the cub was attracted to the smell of food, months ago. Gorban told me. Shift employees rescued his life, but that was not adequate to help him survive. They fed and tamed the endangered animal.” And then animal could not be released into the wilderness because it was domesticated.
The Bolsheviks and Gorban team communication was a little challenging.
“Only at the end of their work could the workers contact us because they have no link at the base. It had told us the men left the mainland and the cub remained alone there. Our only hope was that they would have left a large, waste disposal site, so it was possible for the cub could feed on it over weeks,” said Gorban.
Luckily, the bear was loaded with food and was safely retrieved.
Following protocol, Gorban contacted Russian wildlife authorities to determine a course of action. After deciding the cub was incapable of being on her own, a rescue party was sent to bring her to the zoo.
“For right or wrong, they fed the endangered animal and through that tamed it,” Gorban explained. “The shift workers saved its life, the cub had no chance to survive.”
So, while it was technically against the law for the miners to care for the bear, all things considered, at least this now-not-so-little cub is receiving the help she needs and is being cared for in the way that suits her circumstances.