Rescued polar bear is ‘almost back to normal weight’, and with a new name, too

The skinny polar bear was photographed in the middle of June walking across the busy streets of Norilsk - hundreds of kilometres from the Arctic coastline - paying no attention to cars and stunned drivers. 

The last time a polar bear was seen this far inland was around 1970s, and it is still unclear how the animal got to Norilsk. 

There was a theory that it was caught as a cub by poachers who later aimed to sell its pelt, but ran short of money and couldn’t feed the predator. 

After watching the animal for a couple of days, Russian experts concluded that it was too underweight and sick to survive alone in the wild. 

The polar bear was caught and sent for rehabilitation to Krasnoyarsk’s Royev Ruchei Zoo, where staff confirmed that this was a female aged between one-and-a-half and two years old. 

At slightly over 100kg she was a worrying 60kg below the minimum weight for a polar bear of this age.

Now, four months after the predator was flown to Krasnoyarsk, zoo specialists confirmed the bear is definitely out of danger. 

‘For months zoo vets were quite literally fighting for her life,’ revealed a statement from Royev Ruchei. 

‘A special diet along with treatment for her was designed.

‘Her weight was checked daily. 

‘Today she weighs slightly over 150kg, she is feeling much, much better.’

This clearly shows in the latest pictures. 

The female bear was named Martha in online voting. 

She now has a new temporary enclosure with her own swimming pool, and as soon as she gains another 30-40kgs a decision will be made about her future. 

So far the likely outcomes are to stay at the same zoo in Krasnoyarsk, or another zoo. 

It is not clear at this stage if the bear can be released back to the wild.