A senior official in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula has vehemently condemned a viral video showing a driver chasing a moose and a young bear along a rural road, branding the act as “barbarism in its most repulsive form.”
The footage, which circulated widely across Russian social media, captures a car pursuing the two wild animals as they flee in terror down a dirt track in the Milkovsky district. Commentary from the driver reportedly indicated that they were treating the stressful chase as a ‘race’ for their own amusement.
Sergey Lebedev, the Minister for Emergency Situations for the Kamchatka Krai, a region in Russia’s Far East renowned for its pristine wilderness, expressed his fury over the incident. “I am outraged to the core,” Lebedev wrote. “Instead of filming the poor, running animals… it would have been enough to simply hit the brakes and stop. But they lacked the common sense for that. The exhausted animals were forced to run a considerable distance, undoubtedly experiencing immense stress.”
The minister argued that the incident highlights the need for new legislation to explicitly prohibit the pursuit and feeding of wild animals, addressing a growing concern over reckless human interaction with wildlife. Such encounters can cause severe harm and disrupt the natural behaviors of animal populations.
In a final, sardonic observation, Lebedev noted one grim ‘silver lining’: “After such a run, the bear will 100% not pursue the moose to hunt it. It’s in no state for hunting now.” He also warned of the danger the drivers had courted, noting that a stressed moose with large antlers “could have turned around” and charged the vehicle.