Bears in the Far East have entered populated areas more than 1,200 times since the beginning of 2026

Since the beginning of 2026, bears in the Far East have entered populated areas more than 1,200 times.

The largest number of bear visits to populated areas this year was recorded on Sakhalin - 294 calls.

In a number of regions of the Far East, fatal attacks by bears on people have been recorded: this year there have been 18 such cases in the Far East and Siberia.

MOSCOW, September 25 - RIA Novosti. Bears in the Far East, according to officially confirmed requests from local residents, have entered populated areas more than 1,200 times since the beginning of the year, the relevant departments in the Far Eastern regions told RIA Novosti.

The largest number of bears entering populated areas this year was recorded on Sakhalin. “294 requests were received,” the Forestry and Hunting Agency of the Sakhalin Region told RIA Novosti.

Also, a large number of such cases were recorded in Kamchatka and the Magadan region. As the agency was told by the Ministry of Forestry of the Kamchatka Territory, since January, 239 such reports have been received, 27 bears were shot. In the Magadan region, more than 200 bears have been officially confirmed to come out to people.

“Hunters received 250 reports of the appearance of bears in settlements of the Magadan region, 40 of them were not confirmed,” Anna Borisova, head of the department of state hunting supervision of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the region, told RIA Novosti.

More than 100 times bears were seen near cities and villages in Buryatia and the Khabarovsk Territory. “In Buryatia, about 161 bears have been registered in populated areas since the beginning of the year,” the Republican Service for Supervision of Natural Resources told RIA Novosti, adding that the bulk of such incidents occurred from July to September.

“On the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory, 120 reports of bear exits have been recorded,” the regional government’s hunting management department told RIA Novosti.

About 100 more cases of bears entering populated areas were confirmed in Yakutia, where predators were often seen near rotation camps.

“In Yakutia, in 2026, 92 cases of appearance in populated areas, including rotational camps, were recorded. In total, in connection with the threat to the lives of citizens, 335 decisions were made to regulate the number of 605 bears,” the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the republic told the agency.

In the Primorsky Territory, since the beginning of 2026, there have been 47 reports of bears entering populated areas, 33 of them were confirmed. “In total, during this period, 100 reports of conflict situations with bears were registered, 72 cases were confirmed,” the regional Ministry of Natural Resources clarified to RIA Novosti.

In a number of regions of the Far East, it was difficult to name the exact number of bears visiting people, but they noted that the animals are active and can pose a danger to people. “Since the beginning of the year, 25 predators that posed a threat to people were shot in the Amur region after a series of animals coming out to populated areas,” the directorate for the protection and use of wildlife and specially protected natural areas of the region told the agency.

In Chukotka, the situation with brown bears remains difficult, but controllable, RIA Novosti was told in the regional department of natural resources and ecology.

“The Bear Patrol operates in most populated areas, thanks to which about 40 conflict situations are prevented annually,” the department noted.