Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean, is one of the
most remote islands in Russia. Straddling the International Date Line—the
boundary where the eastern and the western hemisphere meet—this rugged volcanic
island, where summer temperatures barely climb above freezing, is believed to
have been the last place on earth where the wooly mammoth survived, six
thousand years after their cousins on the mainland disappeared.
This harsh
landscape supports a surprisingly diverse ecosystem, including Arctic foxes, seals,
walrus, musk oxen, lemmings, and many types of birds. But the most abundant
species here is the polar bear. There are so many ravenous bears roaming on the
island that the handful of cottages and cabins here for the temporary
habitation of research scientists and rangers have metal spikes built into the
windows to prevent bear attack. Warning signs posted on the door remind people
to watch out for bears when venturing outside.
Spiked windows are required on Wrangel Island to
thwart polar bear attacks.
Wrangel
Island has the highest density of polar bear dens in the entire Arctic region.
The bears come here every summer when the ice melts, and stay on the island
until winter and the start of the next freezing cycle. The bears also come here
to give birth and raise cubs and prepare them for the next winter. The polar
bear is actually a marine animal that love to spend its time in the water. Its
preferred habitat is sea ice that covers the waters over the continental shelf
and the Arctic Ocean. It usually lives on the edges of the ice sheet so that it
could hunt for seals and other marine animals.
But in
the past few decades, change in the climate has forced the bears to spend more
and more time on land because the ice now melts earlier and freezes later,
elongating the ice-free period. Compared to 20 years ago, polar bears now
spend, on average, a month longer on Wrangel Island. The number of bears that
arrive on Wrangel Island each year is also increasing. In 2017, researchers
counted 589 bears on the island, which was “abnormally higher” than the
previous average of 200-300 individuals.
The
last refuge of the wooly mammoth
The
woolly mammoth died out about 10,000 years ago as glaciers melted and earth
became warmer and hostile to the large beast. Shrinkage of its habitat and
hunting by humans together caused the animal to disappear, but isolated
populations survived in remote corners such as Wrangel Island, where the
mammoth thrived as recently as 4,000 years ago. Possibly the last few hundred
years of its existence, the animal coexisted with humans as carbon dating of
various tools left behind by these prehistoric humans reveal. It is also possible
that hunting drove the last of the surviving mammoths, on this frozen isle, to
extinction. Today the island is littered with remains of the wooly mammoth such
as tusks and bone fragments.
A tusk
of a wooly mammoth lies on a stream on Wrangel Island.
UNESCO
World Heritage Site
Unlike
Canada and the US, polar bears are protected in Russia. The Soviet Union banned
all hunting in 1956, but after the fall of the Union, there has been not enough
law resources and poaching is still a problem. In recent years, polar bears
have started to approach coastal villages in Chukotka due to the shrinking of
the sea ice, endangering the lives of humans and raising the chances of illegal
hunting.
In
1976, the Soviet Union declared Wrangel Island and the nearby Herald Islands
and the surrounding waters a state Nature Reserve. By the 1980s,
reindeer-herding on Wrangel was abolished and the two settlements there were
relocated. The island gained UNESCO World Nature Heritage Status in 2004. It is
one of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites located inside the Arctic Circle and the
only one which is listed for its marine values. Wrangel Island boasts the
world’s largest population of Pacific walrus, with up to 100,000 animals
congregating in the island’s rookeries, and the highest density of ancestral
polar bear dens.
What
appears to be sheep from the distance are actually polar bears.
Polar
bears scavenging on the carcass of a dead bowhead whale that washed ashore on
Wrangel Island.
Living
with polar bears
Wrangel
Island has no permanent population, but 6 or 7 rangers reside here to carry out
various tasks, such as ecological monitoring of the wildlife, maintenance of
the field huts, and working with scientific groups, researchers, and tourist
groups who visit the island.
The
rangers live in a couple of rundown huts with windows protected by sharp metal
spikes to prevent polar bear attacks. They are forbidden to posses weapons, but
they do carry flare guns and pepper sprays. Facilities on the island are
primitive, and conditions of the huts and the few vehicles in their reserve are
very poor. They lack good repair kits and replacement parts, including tires,
which make vehicle and communications breakdowns a constant challenge and
create serious safety concerns at the site. Communication to and from the
island is via radio signal, when conditions permit. Electricity is provided by
diesel generators but the supply of fuel is not always guaranteed.
Today,
Wrangel Island is one of the least visited and most restricted nature reserves
in the world. Tourist require special permit from the Russian authorities,
which some say is a rather difficult process.
An
abandoned village on Wrangel Island. The residents were evacuated after Wrangel
Island was declared a Nature Reserve.
Abandoned
cabins and oil drums can be seen on the site of a former settlement on Wrangel
Island.
An
abandoned cabin on the site of a former settlement on Wrangel Island.
A
window protected by metal spikes on Wrangel Island.
A
polar bear peeks inside a cabin on Wrangel Island.
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