Realms of the Russian Bear

The Russian Arctic is the realm of the great white bear. Around 10,000 polar bears roam this frigid region of ice and snow, which stretches from the Kola Peninsula to the Bering Straits. It encompasses one one of Russia's most treasured and beautiful nature reserves, Wrangel Island. The Arctic is home, too, to the muskox, reintroduced to the former Soviet Union from the United States in the 1970's.