MOSCOW: Bad weather is thwarting efforts to rescue a group of mine workers trapped by hungry bears in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka.
The bears have already eaten two of the workers.
The bears - apparently starving - killed the men on July 17, it was reported in Russia. As many as 30 bears have surrounded a platinum mine. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.
About 400 geologists and miners are refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed because of poor weather, it was reported.
Kamchatka, 12,000 kilometres east of Moscow on Russia's Pacific coast, is one of the world's last great natural wilderness areas. The remote volcanic peninsula is home to the rare Steller's sea eagle, puffins, and brown bears that roam its geysers and snow-covered collapsed volcanoes.
Kamchatka's 12,000-strong bear population is the largest in Eurasia. Recently, however, the bears have faced unprecedented ecological pressures.
Poaching has led to a dramatic decline in the bear's main food source - the Pacific salmon.
Kamchatka is home to a quarter of the world's salmon, but they are disappearing. Poachers have cleaned out entire species by netting rivers.
Last year hunters shot dead at least 300 bears - picking off most of the large ones. At least another 600 were killed illegally, conservationists estimate.
"It's always the bear's fault," said Laura Williams, the director of WWF's Kamchatka office. She said she was seeking further details of the stand-off at the mine amid reports that hunters had been sent in an sports utility vehicle to the region to kill the bears.
About 10 bears have also been seen near the village of Khalino, sniffing fish remains and other garbage.
A village official, Viktor Leushkin, told Itar-Tass that a team of hunters would be sent to shoot or chase away the bears.
"These predators have to be destroyed," he said. "Once they kill a human they will do it again and again."
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