Images and a video of a polar bear in Russia have sparked outrage on social media after they showed the bear being spray-painted with graffiti.
The footage shows a polar bear with “T-34” spray-painted on its back.
T-34 is the name of an old Soviet Union Tank.
Reports suggest that the video was first posted on Facebook by Sergey Kavry on December 1, 2019.
Kavry is an employee of the World Wildlife Fund and lives in the remote region of Russia.
Kavry said indigenous minorities from Chukotka, a region in the far east side of Russia, sent him the video of the polar bear on WhatsApp.
It is still not clear where the video was filmed.
Russian polar bears are being forced to travel farther due to sea retreats that are caused by extreme Climate Change.
Kavry said he was concerned about the bear as it may have problems in surviving in the wild.
Kavry explained, “Why! Now he won’t be able to hunt unnoticed.”
Anatoly Kochnev, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the black paint will wash off after some time.
The huge black paint on its side will affect the hunting capabilities of the animal as it will disrupt its camouflage while hunting.
Kochnev believes the bear was spray painted by pranksters in the region.
Kochnev said, “After two to three weeks, the bear will be cleaned up, so the loss of interest in some conditional poachers is temporary.”
“And it’s not so difficult to clear the skin of paint. From seal and walrus fat is much more difficult.”
It is still now known who or why the animal was painted with black paint.
In February this year, the government of Russia declared a state of emergency in Novaya Zemlya, a Russian Artic Archipelago, after over 50 polar bears migrated near human settlements.
Images and videos showed the polar bears walking down the streets, raiding bins for foods, and even trying to enter homes.
Parents in Novaya Zemlya even stopped sending their kids to school due to the huge migration of polar bears in the region.
As a security measure, kindergartens and other schools added fences for extra protection.
In June this year, A polar bear was seen entering the city of Norilsk, Russia, a northern Siberian City, for the first time in 40 years.
Earlier this year, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) branch of Russia announced that residents of the Ryrkaipiy Village in Chukotka, Russia, witnessed polar bears migrating in their area. The announcement was made in August this year.