A bear was spotted near the hydroelectric power station in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The predator was captured by surveillance cameras, and the video was subsequently posted on social media. Specialists have already begun searching for the animal to scare it away from residential areas, reports infohub.kz.
An alarming warning appeared on the Instagram account ablaketka_novosti: "Be careful: a bear was caught on surveillance cameras near the pier at the hydroelectric station. Please avoid walks in that area in the near future, especially at dusk."
As it turned out, staff of the operational unit of the forestry and hunting economy have already left for the search. Deputy head of the operational unit Sergey Karmannikov said: "Our inspectors are currently in the area of the dachas on Ablaketka, they have deployed drones and will monitor the situation from the air. It is clear that the bear does not stay in one place; it appeared somewhere, left, lay down, and may appear again at night, so our inspectors will continue to be on duty in that area and will scare it away if found."
According to Karmannikov, this year, like last year, there are many reports from cities and villages of the East Kazakhstan region about bears entering populated areas. Currently, inspectors are handling requests from residents in Bolshenarym, Serebryansk, Ridder, and Asubulak.
The reason for this behavior of predators is the same: poor food supply. There are almost no berries, mushrooms, or nuts in the forest. Candidate of Biological Sciences Konstantin Prokopov added: "The number of brown bears in Eastern Kazakhstan has increased, which forces predators to enter populated areas in search of food."