14 DAY TRIAL // A team of researchers exploring the Arctic have recently stumbled upon the corpses of two polar bears. The animals appear to have been shot dead and both were missing their skin, hence strong suspicions that poachers are the ones to blame for their death.
Daily Mail informs that the team of researchers that found the two dead animals included specialists working with environmental group the World Wildlife Fund, and that they were exploring the Arctic precisely because they were looking to collect information about polar bears in the region.
“A recent polar bear research project was staged on the island which turned up the corpses of the two bears,” a regional police spokesperson told the press in an interview.
“They were killed with high-powered hunting rifles and snowmobile tracks - the vehicles used to pursue them – were found nearby,” the police spokesperson went on to detail.
The same source tells us that the two dead and skinned polar bears were discovered on a remote island dubbed Vaygach, which sits in the Arctic Sea, between the Pechora Sea and the Kara Sea.
Of the two polar bears, one was dismembered. Seeing how the people who killed the animals were surely looking to get their skin and no more, it is unclear why it was that they took the time to mutilate one of the bears in this gruesome manner.
Conservationists explain that, although poaching activities targeting rhinos and elephants are the ones that most often make headlines, the fact remains that polar bears also fall victims to illegal hunters more often than anyone would expect.
It is said that poachers who target this species not only do not care all that much about the law, but are also willing to risk being caught and fined or even put behind bars just so that they can get their hands on a polar bear skin or two.
This is because such skins are regarded as hunting trophies, and there are many who would pay hefty sums of money to get one. By the looks of it, wealthy Russians are the ones most interested in buying polar bear skins from poachers.
This is despite the fact that Russia considers polar bears to be an endangered species and has recently increased penalties for those found guilty of killing, capturing or transporting such animals.
The hunters responsible for these two deaths have not yet been caught, but an investigation is underway and conservationists hope that it will not be long until the culprits are brought to justice and made to pay for their actions.