“I want to be a polar bear in the cold polar,” sang the Swiss band gray area in 1980, “then I wouldn’t have to scream anymore, everything would be so clear.” But do you really want to be a polar bear these days? If anything is clear, it’s that the animals are melting the ice from under their furry bottoms. The polar bear is no longer the symbolic animal of the Neue Deutsche Welle, but the symbolic animal of climate change. Researchers estimate that there are only 20,000 to 25,000 specimens of the species Ursus Maritimus left. You really want to scream.
“I want to be a polar bear photographer,” Russian nature enthusiast Dmitry Kokh said to himself a few years ago. The hobby became a profession. Kokh is now a renowned wildlife photographer, best known for his photography large marine life, including polar bears. In search of his favorite motifs, he ended up on the remote Koljutschin Island in the extreme north-east of Siberia. Thick-billed murres, kittiwakes, seals, walruses and polar bears live on the barren island. Until 1987 there was also a small settlement called Koljuchino and a weather station. The houses have been abandoned for years, people left behind rusted oil drums and rubbish.
“Suddenly we noticed movement in the windows.”
On his expedition through the Chukchi Sea, Kokh’s team approached the island in a sailing ship to seek shelter from bad weather. “The blustery wind and rain and the neglected buildings on the rocky shores made everything that happened feel surreal,” says Kokh. “Suddenly we noticed movement in the windows of the houses.” About 20 polar bears stayed in the abandoned village, some of them peeking out of the houses as if for surprise! call. Kokh photographed the animals from a drone, he thought going ashore was too dangerous.
Have polar bears settled down? Are you looking for a permanent place to live because the ice no longer seems safe to you? The animals are naturally very curious, explains Russian polar bear researcher Anatoly Kochnev Guardians. The biologist worked on the island of Kolyuchin for many years and observed how the animals tried to get through any open window or door. The bears are traditionally hunted in remote areas of Siberia, using homes as protection from humans.
“Polar bears never have to cry!” Says the Grauzone song. That may only be true if they have solid ground under their paws and a roof over their heads.