Russian 'bear patrol' offers advice in Alaska

Published on February 25th, 2010

By VICTORIA BARBER

Jasmine Tooyak, an eighth-grader in Point Hope, dances with other young women during a welcoming celebration for a group of Russian “Polar Bear Patrol” members in Point Hope on Feb. 3. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

Isaac Killigvuk dances with his son Raymond Killigvuk. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

Olga Romanenko translates for Vladilen Kavry (seated to her right) as Russian scientist Anatoly Kochnev (left) and polar bear patrol members Sergey Kavry and Fyodor Tymnetagin (far right) listen Feb. 3 in Point Hope. The Russians came to Alaska to talk to village residents about the impact of large walrus haulouts forming near villages. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

Roberta “B.J.” Milligrock (in blue) and other Point Hope women dance. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

Fyodor Tymnetagin talks about patrolling for his town Vankarem. In 2006 a young Russian girl was killed by a polar bear, which the Russians said was drawn close to town by the large haulouts formed on land nearby. The polar bear patrols were organized to prevent more violent encounters between humans and polar bears. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

Point Hope Mayor George Kingik kicks off the dancing in a welcoming celebration for the Russian visitors. (Victoria Barber, Alaska Newspapers)

POINT HOPE - As the sea ice thins and more walrus haul out on shore, coastal Alaska villages may want to look at what's happening across the pond in Russia, where enormous haulouts close to human settlements have been the new normal in recent years.

"We didn't observe such a situation when we had ice in the Chukchi," said Anatoly Kochnev, a scientist who monitors walrus haulouts on the Russian coast. Kochnev, along with three indigenous men who are part of the "Polar Bear Patrol" in coastal Russian villages, traveled to Point Hope on Feb. 3 to talk about how they're handling the changes.

"Gigantic haulouts ... attract people, and people start hunting walrus and scare them and harass them," said Kochnev. "Also, it attracts polar bears."

Rural Russian villages have had to learn new ways of living with walrus. While large haulouts were not unheard of in the areas around Vankarem and Ryrkaypyi, they used to last only few weeks and occur every few years. In the past decade that changed, with the haulouts forming every year, lasting much longer and becoming far larger - from 30,000 to up to 70,000 animals.

Kochnev said that as haulouts get bigger, walrus deaths have also increased because of walrus stampedes. In 2007 scientists counted more than 3,000 walrus corpses along the Chukchi coast on the Russian side and estimate the total walrus deaths to be close to 10,000. Almost all the fatalities were young animals, crushed in stampedes. Before 2000, Kochnev said, scientists never saw groups of dead walruses like that.

It's a concern because the walrus corpses attract polar bears, which are also being driven on land by thinning sea ice. Kochnev said that groups of up to 300 polar bear will hang out around the walrus herds. When those haulouts are close to human habitation the consequences can be tragic.

Girl's death

In the most shocking moment of the presentation Kochnev showed a blurry photograph of a small figure in jeans face down in a bloodstained snow bank. A young girl was killed by a polar bear in Ryrkaypyi in 2006, following two deaths from polar bear attacks in the same town in 2003.

The 2006 death inspired residents of nearby Vankarem to begin the polar bear patrol. With support from the World Wildlife Fund, the patrol works with local police, residents and schoolchildren to prepare them for the arrival of polar bears.

Members of the patrol have had to remove polar bears from villages, but they have also found an effective means of keeping polar bears away from town, by hauling dead walrus with a bulldozer from the beach to a designated "feeding spot" away from the village. About 90 percent of the polar bears will stop at the feeding spot and not get any closer to town, said Vladilen Kavry, a Russian hunter and one of the polar bear patrol coordinators.

The residents of Vankarem are also taking steps to protect the haulout and prevent stampedes. In 2006 Vankarem voted to make the walrus haulout at Cape Vankarem a natural monument, a decision which was approved by the Russian government so that they could protect the haulout. A quiet zone was established surrounding the haulout so that passing airplanes or ships don't spark a stampede. They passed laws that govern who can visit the haulouts and established stewards to accompany them - only four people are allowed visit the haulout at a time and they aren't allowed to wear perfume, bright colors or drink alcohol near the animals.

Like Alaska, walrus is a traditional food for indigenous people in the Russian Arctic, but residents have also changed the way they hunt. Firearms are banned near the haulout, and hunters are only allowed to hunt the tradition way, with a spear. The hunters minimize their disturbance to the herd by moving slowly and waiting before harvesting a strike.

"We felt that our old traditions allowed us to protect the walrus and also conduct our subsistence hunt," said Fyodor Tymnetagin, a member of the polar bear patrol and steward of the Cape Vankarem haulout.

Adapting on Chukchi coast

While Alaska doesn't have the haulouts as large as those on the Russian side, Alaskans may soon have to adapt to living with walrus. Joel Garlich-Miller, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said that haulouts formed on the Chukchi coast in 2007 and 2009, both low ice years. He said about 10,000 walruses have come to shore along the Chukchi and grouped in haulouts of about 3,000 to 5,000 animals. Last winter a report of 131 dead walrus near Icy Cape made national news. They were part of a haulout of 3,500 and died from being trampled after something startled the group.

Garlich-Miller said that the Fish and Wildlife Service worked with the WWF to bring the Russians to Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright and Barrow, to help get residents thinking about how they might also handle increased walrus and polar bears in their midst.

At the Feb. 3 meeting in Point Hope, it was clear that the Russians and Alaskans were already on the same page in many ways.

"We believe that nature is your judge, and however you take care of nature, nature will take care of you," Kavry said to hearty applause.