The key facts

  • The cause of the risk is a poor harvest of pine nuts, rowan berries and oats, not the weather, Khaburgaev believes
  • A bear that has built up fat goes into its den; a hungry animal searches for food at garbage dumps and in villages in winter
  • A wildlife expert earlier ruled out an invasion of roamers, while the Telegram channel Mash linked the problem to prolonged rains

Hunger, not weather

Forecasts of a possible bear 'invasion' of the Moscow region are explained not by the weather but by the animals' diet: this year saw a poor harvest of plant food, and the animals failed to build up the necessary fat reserves. This was stated to an NSN journalist by journalist-naturalist Alexander Khaburgaev. According to him, bears fatten up before winter on pine nuts, rowan berries and oats, but this year there are very few nuts.

Why the risk of 'roamers' arises

Khaburgaev explained that a bear, strictly speaking, does not hibernate like a marmot or a ground squirrel, but sleeps a light sleep: an animal awakened in winter becomes a 'hungry roamer.' If the animal has built up fat reserves, it makes a den and lies down; if not, it searches for food at garbage dumps and in villages. The expert warned that a bear that spots a person near a garbage dump may consider them a competitor for food, which poses direct risks to residents.

The population is growing, fear of humans is weakening

For the Moscow region, in Khaburgaev's estimate, about a hundred animals is already a lot, especially since in recent years bears have hardly been hunted: hunting is unprofitable, as the meat is unfit for food, dressing the hides is expensive, and a license is not cheap and has restrictions. As a result, the population is growing. The naturalist also noted that bears are coming closer to megacities and are almost not afraid of people: they have 'essentially lost anthropophobia' and may approach a human out of curiosity.

Different versions of one problem

Versions of the causes of the problem differ. The Telegram channel Mash linked the risk of bears failing to settle into winter sleep to unstable weather and prolonged rains: precipitation may flood the dens, and the animals will have to look for new places to hibernate, wandering through the forests of the Moscow region. The channel also reported that more than a hundred bears are registered in Moscow Oblast, spotted in the Shatura, Taldom and Klin districts. Meanwhile, a wildlife expert earlier ruled out an invasion of roamer bears in the region. Thus, only the very fact that the risk is being discussed can be considered confirmed: the explanations — weather-related (Mash) or food-related (Khaburgaev) — remain experts' assessments for now, not an established fact.