A polar bear which was found roaming around a village in eastern Russia, hundreds of kilometres away from its usual habitat, has been airlifted back home. The exhausted-looking animal apparently travelled on an ice floe from the remote, sparsely populated Chukotka to a village on Kamchatka, about 700 kilometres south when it was found. ALINA UKOLOVA/AP Residents of a village on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula were stunned when they saw a polar bear climbing on the shore hundreds of kilometers away from its usual habitat. READ MORE:* Why Arctic ecotourism should be allowed to flourish, despite the tragic shooting of a polar bear* New records for Arctic shipping but warming yet to bring bonanza* Polar bear numbers likely to decline by a third due to Arctic sea ice meltAP The polar bear was airlifted back home. Environmentalists say that wild animals such as polar bear are suffering from the shrinking hunting environment and the receding ice as the Arctic is getting warmer.

Source: Stuff April 24, 2019 16:52 UTC