EUROPE 
Mine workers trapped by hungry bears
Friday, 25 July, 2008
Kamchatka bears like this one have trapped workers in a remote Russian mine (Getty Images)
At least 30 hungry bears have trapped a group of geologists at their remote survey site in Russia's Far East after killing two of their co-workers last week.
The pack of up to 30 Kamchatka bears - which are similar to grizzlies - prowled around two mines of a local platinum mining company where they killed the two guards, local officials were quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying.
Russian news agency Interfax says hundreds of workers have refused to return to work in fear of further attacks, while bad weather is preventing helicopters from flying in to evacuate the men.
About 400 company workers have refused to return to the mines for fear of the bears, which stand 10 feet (three meters) tall on their hind legs and weigh up to 1,500 pounds (700 kilograms), Interfax reported.
About 10 bears have also been seen near the village of Khailino sniffing fish remains and other garbage.
Village official Viktor Leushkin was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying that a team of hunters will be dispatched to shoot or chase off the bears.
"These predators have to be destroyed," Leushkin was quoted as saying. "Once they kill a human, they will do it again and again."
The remote region of Kamchatka is located 12,000 kilometres east of Moscow on Russia's east coast. The area is home to Eurasia's largest bear population, but the animals are under severe ecological pressure due to widespread poaching of their staple diet of Pacific salmon.
Rampant fish poaching in the Kamchatka tundra often forces the bears to seek other sources of food, such as garbage. Bears frequently attack humans in the scarcely populated peninsula region.
Source: AP/AAP/SBS
The pack of up to 30 Kamchatka bears - which are similar to grizzlies - prowled around two mines of a local platinum mining company where they killed the two guards, local officials were quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying.
Russian news agency Interfax says hundreds of workers have refused to return to work in fear of further attacks, while bad weather is preventing helicopters from flying in to evacuate the men.
About 400 company workers have refused to return to the mines for fear of the bears, which stand 10 feet (three meters) tall on their hind legs and weigh up to 1,500 pounds (700 kilograms), Interfax reported.
About 10 bears have also been seen near the village of Khailino sniffing fish remains and other garbage.
Village official Viktor Leushkin was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying that a team of hunters will be dispatched to shoot or chase off the bears.
"These predators have to be destroyed," Leushkin was quoted as saying. "Once they kill a human, they will do it again and again."
The remote region of Kamchatka is located 12,000 kilometres east of Moscow on Russia's east coast. The area is home to Eurasia's largest bear population, but the animals are under severe ecological pressure due to widespread poaching of their staple diet of Pacific salmon.
Rampant fish poaching in the Kamchatka tundra often forces the bears to seek other sources of food, such as garbage. Bears frequently attack humans in the scarcely populated peninsula region.
Source: AP/AAP/SBS