Drone footage of polar bears in Soviet weather station goes viral

New drone footage of more than a dozen polar bears that have moved into an abandoned Russian weather station are again melting hearts online and casting a spotlight on wider changes in the animals’ behaviour as the world continues to heat up.

- Raul Dancel Correspondent

The video was posted on YouTube this week by Russian traveller and photographer Vadim Makhorov.

It was picked up and reposted by the Associated Press on its X account, where it has so far been viewed more than 350,000 times.

The 30-second video shows about 20 polar bears mostly sprawled inside the ruins of a Soviet-era weather station on the uninhabited island of Kolyuchin in the Chukchi Sea, just off the northern coast of the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia’s far northeast.

One bear tries to snatch the drone with its mouth. Another tries grabbing it with its paw.

The other polar bears are seen peeking out of the windows, staring curiously at the drone, or just lying lazily by doorways.