Polar bear wanders into a city hundreds of miles from its Arctic home

Environmentalists say animals are suffering from the shrinking hunting environment and receding ice as the Arctic gets warmer.

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Starving polar bear at Siberian rubbish dump
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An emaciated polar bear has wandered into a Russian industrial city in Siberia - hundreds of kilometres away from its natural Arctic habitat.

The visibly weak female bear lay despondently on the ground for hours in Norilsk in northern Siberia on Tuesday.

Its feet caked in mud, the bear occasionally rose to desperately sniff around for food on a garbage dump.

The weak bear lay on the ground despondently for hours
Image: The weak bear lay on the ground despondently for hours

The polar bear is the first to be seen in the city in more than 40 years, according to local environmentalists.

Local wildlife expert Oleg Krashevsky, who filmed the polar bear close up, said it was unclear what had brought the animal to the city - far south of its normal hunting grounds.

The bear desperately searched for food on a garbage dump
Image: The bear desperately searched for food on a garbage dump

He said the bear had watery eyes and could clearly not see well, and that local officials will now decide whether they can catch the animal and airlift it back to the north.

Emergency officials in the city of Norilsk warned residents about the bear.

More on Global Warming

The bear occasionally rose to sniff around the Siberian city
Image: The bear occasionally rose to sniff around the Siberian city

Environmentalists say wild animals are suffering from the shrinking hunting environment and receding ice as the Arctic gets warmer due to global warming, prompting some to venture south in search of food.

Compared with the rest of the world, the Arctic is warming twice as fast.

It is unclear whether the bear will be airlifted back to its natural habitat
Image: It is unclear whether the bear will be airlifted back to its natural habitat

State wildlife experts are expected to arrive in Norilsk on Wednesday to assess the bear's condition.

Mr Kravesky said the bear might be too weak to be taken back to its natural habitat.