Hungry bears search for food in remote villages of Kamchatka

This year's spring came early to the peninsula, and bears awoke an earlier date than usual. Bears in spring are quite active. Hungry predators are searching for food as their resources in the forest have become increasingly difficult to find. Last year Kamchatka rivers supplied few fish, and the bears had a hard time finding enough berries in the forests. Many predators did not have time to store up the fat and now roam in search of food, even near settlements. Kamchatka authorities are warning residents to stay inside after dark. NOTE: The Kamchatka brown bear, also known as the Far Eastern brown bear, is Eurasia's largest subspecies of brown bear, with a body length of 2.4 metres, to three metres tall on hind legs and a weight of up to 700 kilograms. In the summer period, they feed on blueberries, crowberries, humpback salmon, and salmon trout. In autumn, they eat nuts from nut-pines and mountain ash, and fish. In times of famine, they eat dead fish or marine mammals, berries and graminoid vegetation. Kamchatka brown bears are generally not dangerous to humans, and only 1% of encounters result in attack. However, aggressive behavior has been reported more frequently in the past years. Thus, three persons were killed by bears in Kamchatka in 2011 alone. Hunters had to kill about 50 bears what posed danger to people. Specialists say bears are attracted to populated localities by easy reachable foods at dumps.