What the Asiatic black bear has been getting up to in Far East Russia

Abstract Species’ activity patterns are driven by the need to meet basic requirements such as food, social interactions, movement, and rest. A variety of biotic and abiotic factors often influence these behaviors. From 2011 to 2021 we used camera-trap data to describe and compare the seasonal and daily activity patterns of the relatively poorly studied…

Polar bear poo and human waste

Affected by ice free seas, polar bears are increasingly visiting human villages and adding human waste to their diet. So what are Russian Arctic bears eating? Researchers decided to analyse bear poo to measure natural vs human waste sources of food. Arctic sea ice melt has left polar bears unable to feed on their natural…

Biting back at humans with climate change

A human disease called dirofilariasis caused by parasitic mosquitoes has been affected by the warmer climate in Russia,  expanding north and east, currently 58° N  (Kondrashin et al., 2022) in both European and Asian Russia. Researchers developed a map using data from the Russian Meteorological office between 1937 and 2016. The data shows long term average…