The bears who like to get high: Russian animals are so addicted to aviation fuel they sniff it until they pass out

Photographer Igor Shpilenok spent seven months observing the bears

The brown bears live at the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Russia's far east



These brown bears are keen to play with discarded barrels - because they have developed a nose for aviation fuel.



The creatures sniff kerosene and gasoline from containers left in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in the far east of Russia.

They take deep breaths for minutes at a time before digging a shallow hole and lying in a 'nirvana' position.

A bear lies back in the 'nirvana' position in the snow after sniffing aviation fuel

Dozens of brown bears sniff air fuel from barrels left on the plains of South Kamchatka Sanctuary in Russia's Far East

A brown bear named Suzemka explores a discarded barrel in the sanctuary, which is a Unesco-protected World Heritage site

The fuel is used to power generators and helicopters used by nature reserve workers.

Photographer Igor Shpilenok, 52, spent seven months with the community of bears.

He said some of the addicted predators even stalked helicopters, waiting for take off and drops of fuel to leak onto the hard soil for them to hoover up.

He added: '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 - who is apparently fasciated by the smell of fuel - used the opportunity.

'She seems to be one of the addicts.'

The Kronotsky Nature Reserve, in South Kamchatka, is home to more than 700 brown bears.

Suzemka rolls the barrel along the ground in the sanctuary to claim it as her own

Suzemka takes a deep breath of kerosene through a crack in the fuel container

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.

The climate ranges between extremely hot and cold - earning it the label 'land of fire and ice'.

A bear approaches a helicopter, perhaps hoping some drops of fuel will fall from the aircraft



