Who painted the side of this polar bear ? Image Credit: Facebook / Sergey Kavry
An investigation is currently underway in an effort to track down who is responsible for painting the animal.
Footage of the bear, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on social media, was recently posted up on Facebook by Sergey Kavry of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
It had been initially shared on a WhatsApp group for the people of Russia's eastern Chukotka region.
"T-34" happens to be the name of a tank used by the Soviet Union during World War II, however it is unclear if the graffiti is a reference to this or something else.
"I don't know the details of which region, district, or vicinity this [footage] was taken," wrote Kavry. "If it's a military lettering theme... that is some kind of perverse disrespect for history."
According to Anatoly Kochnev of the Institute of Biological Problems of the North, whoever was responsible must have sedated the animal because the letters are too straight to have been haphazardly plastered onto its side while it was moving around.
It remains unclear if the lettering will impact the polar bear's ability to stay camouflaged while hunting.
Update: A recent report has indicated that "T-34" may in fact be a grid reference and that the polar bear, far from being graffitied, had in fact been marked by scientists from the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution who had been sent to assess the threat the bears posed to local villagers.
The 'safe' paint used will reportedly disappear within two weeks.
The bear had to be sedated to be painted. It was a 'scientist, veterinarian or environmentalist. I sure as heck wouldn't try getting close enough to make four or five strokes with a can of Krylon.
Why the tinfoil hat? I'm living in Russia. Thanks to Putin's new wave of WWII TV blockbusters, what T-34 is now knows every 3-year old. The general opinion is that T-34 is the legendary tank which secured Russia's victory in WWII, on many cars you can see stickers with T-34 together with the words "To Berlin!" (На Берлин!) or "Thanks to my granddad for the Victory" (Спасибо деду за Победу).
Nobody covered anything up. Ananoly Kochnev said "Scientists could not do this, it could have been somebody who ‘joked’ like this." I can guess, some arschlochs found a heavily sedated bear just after scientists gone and painted him on.
So the article saying it was scientists is fake? I saw a lot of Virtue Signalling on this on many sites the other day. Another example of idiots posting outrage when they have no idea what the situation actually is.
That's s not what that article says, it only says he claimed the T 34 reference was not the tank reference. Here, from the link SW left; The animal was marked with ‘safe paint’ which wears off over two weeks, and moved away to discourage him from coming back. The mark was made to allow both the locals and experts recognise the beast in case he returned, and to distinguish it from any other polar bear scavenging at the site. Andrey Umnikov denied T-34 referred to the tank.
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