‘It’s not her fault!’: Campaign to save grizzly bear who escaped Siberian hotel and caused chaos in town

Grizzly bears do not live anywhere near Siberia's Nizhnevartovsk where a bear was spotted in the street on Wednesday

Credit: Yekaterina Shtukina/Tass

A campaign has been mounted to save a young grizzly bear that escaped captivity in an eastern Siberian town and caused havoc chasing a terrified pedestrian before being stopped in its tracks by a bus. 

The bear, identified as a female aged between 12 to 24 months, quickly became a local celebrity after it was filmed jumping out of a snowdrift and charging at a man who was standing nearby and talking on the phone.

The bear successfully nudged the man’s legs, prompting him to run for his life in footage caught by amazed locals. 

The animal followed him, only to be stopped by a bus that braked in its path.

Жители Нижневартовска сняли безумное видео: по городу мечется дикий медведь и пытается бросаться на прохожих.

Неплохой повод переехать. Всем городом. pic.twitter.com/Pl3vfR8SAh

— baza (@bazabazon) March 17, 2021

It was first spotted early Wednesday morning frolicking in the snow on the outskirts of Nizhnevartovsk, causing a frenzy during the city’s rush hour. Its appearance came as an extra surprise as the species is not native to the area. 

Police eventually found the animal hiding in an industrial area near water pipes and shot it with a tranquiliser dart.

The bear has been identified as living with its mother in a cage on the grounds of a nearby hotel. 

Olga Obmaykina, a police spokeswoman in Nizhnevartovsk, berated the owner for exploiting the bear.

“The owner of the hotel who kept the bear does not care at all about the future of the animal,” Ms Obmaykina told local website 86.ru. “He’s okay with the bear getting put down. Police is definitely not going to do it.”

Despite causing chaos in the town, it quickly won legions of supporters,  with locals posting messages on social media, imploring: “Don’t kill the bear! It’s not her fault!”

Vasily Tikhonov, the city’s mayor, addressed people’s concerns on Instagram that he had been inundated with pleas to save the bear and promised to find it a decent home.

“I have asked the appropriate agencies to make arrangements for the animal,” he said. “We have questions for the owner who created a situation that posed a risk to the residents.”

Police have seized both bears as they will now investigate the owner . 

Nina Bakhman, who heads a local NGO helping stray dogs, told 86.ru that the bear and her mother would stay in town before the animals can be re-homed in one of the region’s national parks.