Just like a flock of sheep, more than 200 bears gather for a feast on the Wrangel Island. Picture: A Gruzdev

From a distance to tourists on passing ship Akademik Shokalskiy, it looked like a flock of sheep, but it soon became evident these were ravenous polar bears feasting on an unexpected meal.

Nature reserve rangers on the remote island calculated there were no less than 230 polar bears arriving to devour the food.

They included single males, single females, mothers with cubs and and even two mothers with four cubs each.

The sight was un unexpected bonanza for tourists on the Finnish-built vessel on part of an epic Arctic voyage from Murmansk to Adadyr in Chukotka.



Information on this unique gathering has been passed to the international scientific group that monitors Chukotka and Alaska's population of polar bears. Picture: A Gruzdev

The group had made a layover on the island, famous as the last place on the planet inhabited by the extinct woolly mammoth.

Information on this unique gathering has been passed to the international scientific group that monitors Chukotka and Alaska's population of polar bears.

Members of the group and staff of the Wrangel island nature reserve continue observations of this unusual polar bear conclave.

The island lies in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea.

Members of the group and staff of the Wrangel island nature reserve continue observations of this unusual polar bear conclave.

Pictures below: The Wrangel Island Nature Reserve