Rosneft has launched scientific expeditions to study polar bears in Dixon, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Sabetta, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. This will be the first time that a full-scale aerial survey of the distribution and numbers of the Kara subpopulation of this Arctic predator has been conducted. Specialists from the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, along with representatives from the Clean Seas Foundation, are taking part in fieldwork organised by the Company’s Arctic Science Centre.

The expeditions are being carried out as part of Rosneft’s biodiversity conservation programme called Tamura. The scientists are planning to survey the north-western coast of Taymyr and the islands in the Kara Sea. The work, which covers an area of several hundred thousand square kilometres, is being conducted from a laboratory aircraft and a helicopter. The expedition participants will assess the sex and age composition of the bears and their general condition using photo registration. Furthermore, the animals will be safely immobilised to take blood and hair samples for in vitro studies, including genetic analysis. In order to monitor the seasonal migration of polar bears, their activity and feeding grounds, a number of animals will be fitted with transmitters containing satellite radio tags.

The fieldwork will last approximately one month and will build upon research conducted in northern Krasnoyarsk in the summer of 2024.

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Rosneft
April 21, 2025