A desperate bid is underway to save a forlorn polar bear at least 450 miles off course after being carried away on an ice floe off Russia's Pacific coast.
The beast headed towards the police station in Tilichiki village once the floe touched land, evidently pleading for human help.
The predator is 'lame, exhausted and confused' but has climbed on its hind legs to peer into windows in a search for food or assistance, leaving some locals scared, according to reports in Kamchatka, a peninsular in the extreme east of Siberia.
Residents have left fish for the bear and police officers in the remote settlement - population 1,750 - are watching over the animal as Russian officials seek to organise an airlift for the bear back above the Arctic Circle.
The polar bear, named Umka, stands on the ice near the village of Tilichiki on Russia's Pacific coastline after drifting 450 miles on an ice floe from the north
The polar bear is described as 'lame, exhausted and confused' but has clambered up to windows in the village in his search for food
The bear eating food left for him by locals - while some have been scared by him others have left him fish as he appears unable to hunt himself
The young male polar bear, now named Umka, got stuck on the floe off the coast of Chukotka, Russia's most easterly region, and floated far to the south away from its natural habitat, travelling a distance at least as great as London to Edinburgh.
The wild animal seems to have a wounded front paw and is 'disorientated' and weak after its odyssey.
The 'forlorn' beast is scavenging for food in the bleak village.
Svetlana Gubareva, deputy head of the district, said: 'At first, the animal behaved quite actively.
'Locals filmed it on video, photographed it, and yesterday - fed it with fish, though he did not eat much.
