Emaciated polar bear rescued from garbage dump in Arctic maybe ‘lost sister’ of orphaned Ursula

The extraordinary story of the polar bear found in industrial city Norilsk - hundreds of kilometres from the Arctic coastline - has taken a new twist. 

Now experts believe the 'wanderlust' animal maybe the sister of orphaned Ursula, rescued from Dikson in October last year when hungry polar bears besieged the northern port. 

Experts in Krasnoyarsk - where the lost and so far unnamed bear was flown for rehabilitation - are to carry out a DNA test to ascertain if their suspicions are true which could pave the way for a reunion.

Ursula is now in the same zoo, and a video shows her frolicking in a pool. 

Our reports in the past week or so on the lost polar bear in Norilsk were viewed and followed up by media all around the world. 

The bear may have walked hundreds or even thousands of kilometres to Russia’s nickel capital, it was suspected.

After sedation, the beast was moved by a Boeing-737 Nordstar Airlines passenger flight to Krasnoyarsk, where she was put into quarantine at Royev Ruchei zoo.A positive DNA test could be followed by a sisterly reunion of the orphaned cubs. 

But first she needs to recover from a mysterious ordeal in which she may have trekked hundreds of kilometres to reach Norilsk. 

The bear has been found to be suffering from ‘extreme malnutrition’, weighing 100 kilograms, or one and a half time less than she should. 

A recovery programme is underway for the bear. 

But experts also suspect that she has previously lived in captivity - possibly after being caught by poachers. 

They believe the bear is familiar with being caged. 

Last year when Ursula was caught she was put into the same quarantine cage, said zoo director Andrey Gorban.

‘As soon as a worker approached the enclosure, she began to roar and prepared to defend herself,’ he said. 

‘Wild animals often chew the bars of the cage and may even break their teeth. 

'But the female bear from Norilsk behaves in a completely different way. She is not afraid of people at all. She does not feel negative about the cage.’

Observers in Norilsk had also noticed that the bear did not seek to attack people who came very close taking selfies of the surprise visitor. 

One theory is poachers raised the bear but then released it fearing tough new punishments under Russian laws. 

But one polar bear expert has criticised the way the bear has been taken to Krasnoyarsk rather than released back into the Arctic. 

‘In the photographs I see a beast with properly developed muscles,’ said zoologist Nikita Ovsyannikov.

‘A polar bear who grew from a cub under lock and key cannot look like this.

'It is not clear what disease was discovered by the experts. 

‘Ideas expressed by those anonymous experts that only male bears may travel that far are not accurate. 

'Cases when both male and female polar bears travelled for hundreds of kilometres deep into the continent take place although rarely.’

This has happened both in Russia and North America, he said. 

‘Due to global warming and ice melting, the frequency of such journeys will naturally increase.’

A long incursion inland from the Arctic coast should not be seen as a surprise, he said. 

‘If the ‘experts’ discovered serious diseases, why don’t they give information what exactly they are? 

‘What are the grounds for a such a conclusion? 

‘This female bear must be returned to the Arctic. 

‘If she does require medical treatment, she should be treated and later released to the wild. She is a normal wild beast, physically well developed.’