Man-eating bears scare off miners
MOSCOW – A pack of bears searching for food killed and ate two men at mines in Russia’s Pacific Kamchatka region and have kept hundreds of geologists and miners from reaching the mine, news agencies reported Wednesday.
As many as 30 Kamchatka bears – similar to grizzlies – prowled around two mines of a local platinum mining company where they killed the two guards last Thursday, local officials were quoted by the Russian ITAR-Tass news agency as saying.
About 400 company workers have refused to return to the mines for fear of the bears, which stand 10 feet tall on their hind legs and weigh up to 1,500 pounds, Interfax reported. About 10 bears have also been seen near the village of Khailino sniffing fish remains and other garbage.
Rampant fish poaching in the Kamchatka tundra often forces the bears to seek other sources of food, such as garbage.