Russia Counts Its Polar Bears

Researchers are counting polar bears in important denning areas of the Russian Arctic, with some preliminary observations pointing to potentially record numbers.

New information is emerging from this year’s autumn polar bear monitoring in two key polar bear habitats: the Bear Islands Nature Reserve in Yakutia and Wrangel Island farther east.

Both are important maternity areas, sometimes described as “maternity wards” for polar bears. Pregnant females and those already accompanied by cubs gather there in autumn, using these areas to prepare for winter, give birth and raise their young. This makes autumn a particularly important time for surveying.

Bear Islands live up to their name

The Bear Islands Nature Reserve includes six islands in the East Siberian Sea, surrounding waters and areas of mainland tundra. The exceptionally high concentration of polar bear maternity dens in this area was a major reason for establishing the reserve in 2020.

This year’s survey was conducted over two days from a helicopter. Researchers made visual observations while a multispectral camera system continuously photographed the survey route.

There is no final number yet. Tens of thousands of images will be processed using a neural network to identify bears and eliminate duplicate observations, followed by manual verification by scientists. The final results are expected in 2027.

However, researchers describe the preliminary observations as remarkable and say this year’s count could potentially set a new record. Previous surveys recorded 175 bears in 2023 and 182 in 2025.

More counting underway

Farther east, according to the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, its annual autumn monitoring of polar bears is still underway.

Two reserve inspectors are travelling a roughly 1,000-kilometre route, mostly along the coast. For each bear encountered, they record its sex and age category, body condition, behaviour and location. They are also servicing camera traps along the route.

This year’s fieldwork is expected to continue into October. Last autumn, 455 polar bears were recorded along the Wrangel Island survey route.

Researchers view potentially high numbers of polar bears in the surveyed areas positively. Polar bears sit at the top of the food chain, and researchers say that sufficient food and suitable conditions for reproduction indicate that the surrounding ecosystem is in good condition. Observations from important polar bear habitats like these, they say, can also provide insights into environmental conditions across the broader Arctic.

Polar Journal AG Team