An “exhausted-looking” polar bear has been spotted scavenging for food hundreds of miles from its home.

Concerned residents in the village of Tilichiki on the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia’s far east, were shocked to see the animal, which is thought to have travelled about 434 miles south from its usual habitat in Chukotka.

Environmentalists said the bear could have lost its sense of direction while drifting on an ice floe.

Vladimir Chuprov, from Greenpeace, said: “Due to climate change, the Arctic is getting warmer [and the] hunting environment [is getting] smaller and less convenient.

“The ice is receding, and polar bears [are looking] for new ways to survive and the easiest way is coming to people.”

Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Show all 9 1 /9 Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Mother Tonja and her cub have been pictured together for the first time Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time As yet unnamed, the cub was born on December 1 2018 at Berlin's Tierpark Zoo Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time 9-year-old Tonja has previously given birth to two sons, both of whom died in infancy Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time The pair have been living together in a birthing den where Tonja can raise her cub in privacy for the first few months Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Previously, the first pictures of the cub were released on February 14 AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination which revealed that the 11-week old is a female AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time A name will not be announced until the cub and her mother Tonja are ready to make their first public appearance AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination AP

Locals made the bear feel welcome by giving it fish, Russian media reported.

Videos posted online showed the animal moving past residents, showing no aggression.

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Authorities in Kamchatka are preparing a rescue effort later this week.

They plan to use a sedative to put the bear to sleep and then airlift it to Chukotka in a helicopter.

Polar bears’ dependence on sea ice makes them highly vulnerable to global warming.

Shrinking Arctic ice cover could increasingly deprive them of their usual prey, seals.