{"id":387240,"date":"2026-01-04T11:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/387240\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T11:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:37:20","slug":"jaw-dropping-photos-show-soviet-soldiers-hand-feeding-wild-polar-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/387240\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaw-Dropping Photos Show Soviet Soldiers Hand-Feeding Wild Polar Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears01-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A person in winter clothing extends a hand to a standing adult polar bear, while two polar bear cubs are nearby in the snow. The scene appears calm amidst an icy, snowy landscape.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-large wp-image-832655\"  \/>A polar bear mom reaches for a tin of condensed milk while her cub clings to the giver\u2019s leg. <\/p>\n<p>These remarkable historic photos show Soviet Union soldiers hand-feeding polar bears on the Chukchi Peninsula in Far East Siberia. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/travelask.ru\/blog\/posts\/22791-istoriya-v-foto-unikalnyy-kadr-kak-soldaty-kormyat-belyh-med\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">According to Travel Ask<\/a>, a Russian travel website, the photos were taken in 1950 and they show soldiers who took pity on the bears when they were hungry and would give some of their rations. \u201cSoviet soldiers did indeed sometimes feed polar bears and their cubs for fun,\u201d writes Travel Ask.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears10.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a striped shirt feeds a polar bear near wooden barrels and a wooden building in a snowy, icy landscape. The bear is close to the person, with snow covering the ground and barrels.\" width=\"800\" height=\"569\" class=\"size-full wp-image-832664\"  \/>This gigantic polar bear arrives at what looks like a chef\u2019s door for some subsistence. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears02-597x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person in winter clothing feeds a treat to a standing polar bear from a vehicle, while another polar bear cub waits nearby on snowy ground.\" width=\"597\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-832656\"  \/>The tank seen here is an amphibious GT-S, capable of traversing tough terrain. <\/p>\n<p>The idea of hand-feeding a polar bear seems completely beyond the pale because of the animal\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2025\/11\/13\/photographer-mauled-to-death-by-polar-bears-at-arctic-outpost\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fearsome reputation<\/a>. Nevertheless, <a href=\"https:\/\/rarehistoricalphotos.com\/feeding-polar-bears-tank-1950\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">Rare Historical Photos<\/a> reports that the Soviet soldiers would feed the bears condensed milk in tins since this is the item they had plenty of. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSoldiers would open such a tin with a tin-opener and then give the can to the bear who licked all the milk from it and then feed her little bears with it. Those blue and white tins of condensed milk were the winter dessert staple of every Soviet kid,\u201d the history blog writes. <\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears09.jpg\" alt=\"A person dressed in dark clothing kneels on snowy ground facing a polar bear, which is approaching with its head down. The scene takes place in a bright, snowy landscape.\" width=\"800\" height=\"622\" class=\"size-full wp-image-832663\"  \/>Condensed milk, which is what appears to be handed out here, was always plentiful. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears03-627x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person in dark clothing holds the paw of a standing polar bear cub, while an adult polar bear stands nearby in the snowy background. The image is in black and white.\" width=\"627\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-832657\"  \/>Even kisses were handed out. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears04-800x539.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people in winter uniforms stand in the snow, while one person kneels to feed a polar bear. The scene appears old and is in black and white.\" width=\"800\" height=\"539\" class=\"size-large wp-image-832658\"  \/>The officer here had opened the tin of milk so the bear could lick it. <\/p>\n<p>Condensed milk has an exceptionally long shelf life, making it an ideal army staple. The Soviet military had an internal rationing system but condensed milk was available in unlimited quanitities. <\/p>\n<p>In the photos, there is an amphibious GT-S tracked vehicle used by the Soviet military in snow and swamp terrain.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears11-532x800.jpg\" alt=\"A polar bear walks on snowy ground near wooden barrels and debris, with a person in the background and snow-covered structures surrounding the area.\" width=\"532\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-832665\"  \/>One can only presume the bears didn\u2019t pose a threat to the soldiers. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Soviet_Soldiers_Feeding_Polar_Bears07.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing winter clothing and a fur hat extends a hand toward a large polar bear standing on snow, as if feeding or interacting with the animal in an icy environment.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" class=\"size-full wp-image-832661\"  \/>This bear looks positively pleased to be fed.<\/p>\n<p>The Chukchi Peninsula is well-known for its polar bears. Many intrepid photographers have traveled there to capture incredible shots of the apex predators, including <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2022\/01\/13\/photographer-finds-polar-bears-that-took-over-abandoned-buildings\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">occupying former Soviet meteorological stations<\/a> that the soliders may have once used. <\/p>\n<p>Image credits: Unknown \/ Soviet Army<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A polar bear mom reaches for a tin of condensed milk while her cub clings to the giver\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[35160,164148,113161,1206,79,188290,188291,188292,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-387240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-arctic","9":"tag-historicalphotos","10":"tag-polarbears","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-soviet","14":"tag-sovietunion","15":"tag-ussr","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}