The key facts
- Two bears approached the pensioner's home in the Ubinsky district around midnight; the second one headed toward the village
- Since the beginning of the year, bear sightings have been recorded in 17 municipalities of the region, with 52 orders issued to regulate the numbers of 115 individuals
- Specialists expect predator activity to decline in the second half of November with the onset of cold weather
A night encounter by the front garden
In one of the villages of the Ubinsky district of the Novosibirsk region, two brown bears approached the home of an 80-year-old local resident at night. According to the pensioner herself, it all happened around midnight: she heard noise near her front garden and at first took the animal for a calf, trying to drive it away with her voice. When the beast rose on its hind legs, the woman realized she was dealing with a bear and closed the window. This is reported by Life.ru; the pensioner's words are cited by TASS.
The second animal headed toward the village
Soon a second bear appeared from the street — slightly smaller than the first. According to the woman, it stayed near the house for a while, looked around, and then headed toward the village: 'It stood there, looked around, rubbed against something, and went off toward the village.' The pensioner told her relatives about the ordeal only two days later.
The authorities' response and regional statistics
Information about the appearance of the animals was sent to the regional Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology. Specialists traveled to the site, surveyed the area, and decided to regulate the predators' numbers — the bears are currently being searched for. The scale of the problem in the region is confirmed by the ministry's figures: since the beginning of the year, bear sightings have been recorded in 17 municipalities, and the ministry has issued 52 orders on regulating the numbers of 115 individuals. A state of heightened readiness has been in effect in the region since October 27.
Recommendations for residents
According to experts, things should calm down in the second half of November, when sustained cold sets in and the bears begin preparing for winter hibernation. Until then, residents are advised to refrain from going into the forest, not to walk around populated areas after dark, and to call 112 immediately if they encounter a predator.
Context in other regions
The bear situation remains tense beyond the Novosibirsk region as well. According to Life.ru, in Krasnoyarsk Krai on October 28, in the upper reaches of the Kazyr River in the Kuraginsky district, a bear attacked one of the region's well-known hunters, Vitaly Yelfimov, who died. According to regional parliament deputy Elena Penzina, he was the ninth victim of bears in the region.
