A collage of two screen grabs shows a pack of 14 brown bears filmed surrounding a truck in Magadan region
A collage of two screen grabs shows a pack of 14 brown bears filmed surrounding a truck in Magadan region
The recording comes as several people get killed and wounded in recent 'worst-ever' bear attacks.

Reports about bears becoming extremely active in searching for food next to towns and villages - and attacking people in the process - come from many areas of Siberia and the Far East of Russia.

This footage with an unusually large group of animals prowling around the village of Takhtoyamsk in Magadan region, on shore of the Sea of Okhotsk, appears to be the most peaceful of all encounters.

But elsewhere this was not the case, and even here it could turn nasty.

Experts say the number of bear attacks on humans this year is 'unprecedented'.

There were three such attacks within the last week, with two men killed in Kamchatka and Khabarovsk region, and a young woman wounded in Chukotka.


In the first in years bear attack in Russia's easternmost territory, Chukotka, a young woman bitten in her neck and arms by a bear cub.

She was rescued by a male friend who stabbed the bear in an eye with a knife which scared away the predator.

'The young woman wore two hoodies which is what saved her life as her neck got very nearly bitten through,' said doctor Natalya Vlasova who treated the victim at Ust-Belaya hospital.

Two bears were shot in Kamchatka peninsula, with remains of a 41 year old man found inside them.

Hours before that the body of the missing resident of the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was reported lying on the sea shore outside he city.

Less than a week ago a locally-renowned 66-year-old railway builder was killed by a bear while picking mushrooms in Khabarovsk region.

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Brown bears seen running across streets and in city centres of Magadan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Brown bears seen running across streets and in city centres of Magadan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Meanwhile, a three year old brown bear scared residents of Magadan after audaciously appearing on a central street.

'Even the old-timers don't remember bears walking right into the centre of the city. This is an extraordinary situation', said Vadim Uzhvenko from Animal Welfare of Magadan region.


The bear was later shot due to aggressive behaviour.

There were several reports of bears raiding the canteens of shift workers in Kamchatka, Amur region, Yakutia and Khabarovsk region, as well as at least two cases of brown bears raiding graveyards. In one case a predator dug up a body of a recently buried man.

Even in the 'Brown Bears Paradise', the Kronotsky nature reserve in Kamchatka, which looks after one of the world's largest population of the animals there was a near-deadly situation when a large beast ran at a group of rangers and tourists.

A popular tourist walk which normally observes bear feeding grounds had to be shut.

The resort inspectors said that the salmon spawning is delayed this year, with dozens of bears gathering at what are usually abundant rivers and lakes.

Hungry brown bears are pictured waiting for salmon to arrive at yet empty rivers of the Kamchatka peninsula. Pictures: Liana Varavskaya
© Liana VaravskayaHungry brown bear pictured waiting for salmon to arrive at yet empty rivers of the Kamchatka peninsula.
The governor of Kamchatka region Vladimir Ilyukhin said that 62 permits to shoot bears have been granted this year - and all used.

In all cases the bears posed a threat to humans.

'There are hunters who deal with shooting the animals who have reached human settlements and are a threat to the safety of residents,' he said.

There were even cases in his capital city Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with one bear repeatedly gaining access to the airport.

'Of course if human life is in danger, all necessary measures are taken in order to scare the beast away from the settlement or to kill him,' said the governor.

'This year 62 hunting licences were issued, and all of them got used.

'All necessary actions to regulate the number of animals are being performed.'


Sergey Vakhrin, 65, who spent all his life in the Kamchatka Peninsula said that he has never witnessed this number of attacks on humans.

'I was born and raised in the peninsula have never heard that a hungry bear can attack a man,' he said.


'Yes, a wounded animal can attack while fighting for life, but now?

'What changed now since 1998 is that authorities then allowed locals to fish without any limits.

'My other feeling is that for 20 years we have been growing a population of bears who has no fear of humans.'