The bear who dared: Awesome polar animal descends 300ft cliff in a bid to scavenge eggs from some VERY surprised birds

By JULIAN GAVAGHAN

Watch the birdie: A hungry polar bear inching down a 300ft cliff face in a desperate search for food on in Novaya Zemlya, Russia

For birds nesting on a precarious cliff, the last visitor they might expect to see would be a hulking polar bear clambering down to join them.

Yet this bulky beast somehow managed to descend a craggy precipice in Russia’s remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya.

The young male risked life and limb scavenging for eggs along the 300ft-high rock face thronged with hundreds of squawking Brunnich's Guillemots.



What are you doing here?! The bear approches nesting Brunnich's Guillemots, whose eggs he hoped to scavange


Stunned tourists onboard a chartered ice-breaker boat were left in awe as the watched the previously undocumented spectacle.

American photographer Dylan Coker, who captured the incredible scene, said: ‘The height that the bear was at and the sheerness of the cliff face were absolutely amazing,’ said the 40-year-old.


Gone again: The birds raced down the cliff every time the polar bear ventured further down. A quizzical seagull watches from above the bulky beast


‘Everyone was terrified it was going to fall.

‘Every so often there would be a gasp from someone on the boat when the bear slipped.

‘It was slipping quite a bit and one point it was stretched right out to reach for eggs in a nest.’


Remote: The polar bear before making his daring descent on one of the rocky Ostrova Oranskie islands


Describing the moment the passengers relealised they were seeing a bear on the cliff on one of the Ostrova Oranskie islands, Californian Mr Coker, who now lives in Australia, said: ‘It was a really beautiful place; very foggy, cool, and serene with a sky full of squawking birds.

‘We rounded a corner and suddenly we could see this white blob at the top of some cliffs.

‘The cliffs were at least as high as a five-storey building. At first we thought it might be a large bird or a snow patch but as we got nearer we realised it was a polar bear.


In awe: Tourists on a small boat capture the previously undocumented scene with their cameras


‘Everyone on the boat was quiet, we just sat there in awe.’

Despite its bravado, the bear returned to the top of the cliff without enjoying a full meal after losing its footing several times.

Previously the group of group had encountered polar bears hunting on ice floes in Bukhta Maka, after journeying for two days without seeing land.


Precarious: The bear eventually returned to the top after losing its footing a few too many times



Polar bear habitat: Russia's Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya

source: dailymail