San Francisco Frontiers - Russia probes bear attacks, as official says town under 'siege'

Prosecutors said they had opened a probe into criminal negligence, accusing local officials of failing to control bear numbers.

Russia's brown bear population has more than doubled since 1990, from around 130,000 to almost 308,000 individuals in 2026, according to Russia's natural resources ministry.

While the number of bear attacks across Russia has remained constant at around 20 to 30 a year, according to the ministry, local media and officials have expressed alarm about the rising numbers.

Despite numerous warnings, local officials "failed to take measures to regulate the predator population or prevent them from appearing in areas inhabited by people," the Investigative Committee of Russia's sparsely-populated Krasnoyarsk and Khakassia regions said on its website.

The bodies of two pensioners were found mauled in a forest near the remote town of Podtyosovo earlier this month, followed by the death of a 40-year-old factory worker who walked through the forest on September 6, according to local media.

Three others were killed in the following weeks, the latest of which was a 39-year-old logger guarding machinery in the forest early Wednesday, investigators said.

The deputy head of the neighbouring Khakassia region, Dmitry Buchenik, said Wednesday that the forest town of Abaza -- home to around 10,000 people -- was surrounded by bears "on all sides".

"It was an alarming night in Abaza. The taiga town is effectively under siege by bears," he said.

"Some of the animals were chased off, but three were killed (one of them was huge)," he added.

Unverified social media videos purported to show a bear swimming across a river beside the town, while another showed a group of three bears leaping across a road in front of cars.

Russia's emergency ministry says bears flee in the vast majority of encounters with humans.

J.Martinez--SFF