First evidence of a brown bear on Wrangel Island, Russia

Abstract: We report the first photographic and genetic evidence of a brown bear (Ursus arctos) on Wrangel Island, Russia, located north of 71° in the Arctic Ocean. The sequenced control region (D-loop) of mitochondrial DNA obtained from hair of a sighted bear was indistinguishable from one of the most widespread haplotypes of the Eurasian brown bear. Molecular genetic analysis indicated that the bear was male. We photographed what may have been a second brown bear on a remote camera trap. It is unknown whether the bear(s) were transients or indicative of a range expansion associated with warming temperatures. Wrangel Island currently supports muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and several top predators including a high density of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) during the summer and autumn. Thus, the presence of brown bears could lead to novel interspecies interactions with potentially cascading ecological effects.