The International Polar Bear Day is annually celebrated on February 27. This day was established to raise awareness of the need to protect the planet’s largest land predator.

Preserving the polar bear population is an integral component of Rosneft’s environmental programme. The polar bear is one of the main bioindicator species, the condition of which can be used to assess the state of Arctic ecosystems. Concurrently, the polar bear is accorded a special conservation status, as designated in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Since 2014, the Company has been conducting expeditions to study polar bears in collaboration with leading scientists in our country. During this period, the Company organised 10 scientific expeditions. In 2024, Rosneft initiated a new four-year cycle of research into northern predator as part of Tamura, its corporate programme for preserving the biodiversity of Arctic ecosystems.

In 2024, on the north-western coast of Taymyr and the islands of the Kara Sea, scientists conducted a polar bear census during the ice-free period. A total of 50 of these Arctic carnivores were recorded. For the first time in Russian practice, satellite radio tags were placed on male animals to monitor their seasonal migration, activity levels, and breeding and feeding habits. During the course of Rosneft’s expeditions, 36 polar bears were fitted with tracking devices.

In 2025, scientists conducted the first full-scale aerial survey of the Kara Sea subpopulation of polar bears. Specialists carried out 25 flights, covering a total distance of almost 24,000 km. During the expeditions, approximately 170,000 images were captured, in addition to 540,000 infrared photographs, which are currently being processed using artificial intelligence.

The results significantly expand and actualize information on the polar bear population living in the Russian Arctic — their migration routes, the physical condition of the specimen, and help to develop activities for animal preservation. The data is also used for the Company’s environmental atlases.

Rosneft is implementing a comprehensive programme to support and protect polar bears living in the wild without maternal care. These efforts have resulted in the successful rescue of six orphaned bear cubs in the Russian Arctic.

Since 2013, Rosneft has been patronizing all polar bears in Russian zoos. To date, the Company has provided support to 36 polar bears in 16 zoos across the country, including housing, feeding, veterinary care, and cage renovation. As part of the corporate programme for the care of polar bears in zoos, seven new enclosure complexes have been built, and existing enclosures are repaired and renovated on an annual basis. In 2025, the Company helped to purchase three ice generators for the Perm and Leningrad zoos, an X-ray detector for the Udmurtia zoo and an ultrasonic veterinary diagnostic device for the Leningrad zoo. The Company also funded the repair of enclosures in four zoos. The Company has also developed special toys to enhance the physical activity of the animals.

The Company is also engaged in educational work. In 2025, Rosneft, in collaboration with Innopraktika, a non-governmental development institute, launched an online course of popular science lectures entitled “Arctic Wanderer: The Polar Bear.” It is available to everyone on the Lectorium educational platform. At the Udmurtia Zoo, Rosneft sponsored a series of outreach lectures entitled “In the Footsteps of the Polar Bear.”

Department of Information and Advertising
Rosneft Oil Company
February 27, 2026

Keywords: Environmental news 2026