"Soon, only lobbyists will remain": the Moscow region government is considering removing the polar bear from the Red Book.
The brown bear is slated to be removed from the region's Red Data Book and hunting permitted. The goal is to regulate the number of animals that may enter populated areas, writes the chair of the Committee on Property Relations, Nature Management, and Ecology. Vladimir Shapkin.
"Bears are increasingly approaching people. Incident statistics for 2025 include two attacks on people," the official explains. "Removing a species from the Red List is not a measure aimed at its extermination, but is seen as a tool for operational regulation."
According to his information, in 2018 Moscow Region There were only 10-15 bears, meaning the species was on the brink of extinction in the region. However, Shapkin asserts that by 2025, due to migration, the population had grown to 70-80 individuals.
Environmentalists, for their part, assert that the bear population in the Moscow region could not have grown to such numbers because the species is incapable of reproducing so rapidly. Moreover, populations of hundreds of individuals are considered sustainable for brown bears under various conditions. Therefore, it cannot currently be claimed that the population has recovered to a stable level.
Measures must be taken to prevent conflicts with bears, writes the team at the Orphaned Bear Rescue Center, and decisions to delist a species from the Red Book should be made solely on the basis of scientific data, including long-term monitoring. Furthermore, current laws already provide mechanisms for responding to conflict situations.
Social media users, however, don't believe any concern for people is being expressed, but instead suggest that the interests of hunters are being lobbied for: "It looks like someone's playful little hands are itching to shoot. But they don't want to travel far," "I think there's a demand to legalize bear hunting," "Soon, Russia will be left with nothing but lobbyists and their accomplices. Normal people will die out along with the animals."
Photo: Orphaned Bear Rescue Center