The Kronotsky Nature Reserve in South Kamchatka, is home to more than 700 brown bears and those guys are some of the largest brown bears in the world.
These bears have been seen sniffing at recklessly discarded oil cans containing kerosene and gasoline. They are obviously attracted by the strong scent of these products.
The bears would find these containers and inhale the fumes for minutes at a time until they get so high that they eventually fall over and pass out. They have become so addicted that they will go searching for a ‘fix'!
If they can’t find containers lying around, they resort to stalking helicopters.
The helicopters leave drops of fuel behind after landing. The bears will go and sniff the drops of fuel in a desperate attempt to get high.
These findings could possibly give researchers a clearer insight into the nature of addiction and also reveal information about the presence of addiction in nature, but obviously there is great concern for the well-being of these bears.
Unfortunately they have now been exposed to an addictive substance and there is no clear indication of how they will be helped to recover.
