Bears in Russia addicted to sniffing fumes from barrels of aircraft fuel

A group of bears have reportedly become addicted to sniffing fumes from discarded barrels of aircraft fuel in Russia.

The fumes come from the canisters of gasoline and kerosene brought in to power generators and helicopters used by workers at the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, in South Kamchatka, in the far east of Russia.

The bears take deep breaths of kerosene through cracks in the containers before digging a shallow hole and lying in a 'nirvana' position.

Russian photographer Igor Shpilenok, 52, spent seven months with the community of bears, and said some seemed so addicted they stalked helicopters, waiting for take-off and the subsequent drops of fuel to leak onto the soil.

According to the Mirror, he said: "In another case a helicopter brought a few barrels of gasoline. Workers of the nature reserve didn't take them in time and a female bear named Suzemka (pictured) - who is apparently fascinated by the smell of fuel - used the opportunity.

"She seems to be one of the addicts."

The Kronotsky Nature Reserve is home to around 700 brown bears.

According to the Daily Mail, they are thought to be the largest brown bears in the world, weighing up to 1,200lb.

The sanctuary covers 225,000 hectares of land and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.

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