Irkuyem

In the second half of the 1960s , messages began to appear from Chukotka about giant bears, twice or three times the weight of an average brown bear and distinguished by an unusual appearance. One of the first articles about this phenomenon was published in the magazine Around the World No. 1 and 2 for 1968 ^[1] . Some enthusiastic researchers said that legends about unusual, huge and aggressive bears have long existed among the Chukchi and local Inuit ^[1] . So, information appeared that such a bear, mistaken for a brown ugly bear, was obtained by geologists. Basically, these animals were allegedly met by reindeer herders , - the area of ​​Lake Elgygytgyn was most often mentioned as the place of the largest number of such meetings. In addition, judging by some stories, very large bears of strange appearance were hunted in Kamchatka - in 1976 , 1980 and 1982 in the Olyutor , Karagin and Tigil districts of the Kamchatka region ^[2] . It is noteworthy that back in the 1920s, the Swedish zoologist Sten Bergman was very vividly interested in information about the giant bears of Kamchatka and, having studied the huge bear skin of an unusual kind that he came across, announced the existence of a new subspecies of the brown bear Ursus arctos piscator (the so-called Bergman bear ) ^{[3 ]} .

The Irkuyem hypothesis was at its peak in the second half of the 1980s . Not least of all, this was due to the active work of the Kamchatka enthusiast Rodion Nikolaevich Sivolobov, who conducted intensive correspondence with a number of Soviet scientists and printing publishers, which received considerable resonance. Sivolobov claimed that he not only saw this beast, but also became the owner of his skull and skin, showing a black-and-white photograph of a dressed-up bear skin of an unusually light color with an abnormally wide back ^[4] . He claimed that the natives of Kamchatka repeatedly told him about a giant bear of unusual appearance, sometimes attacking herds of deer. Kamchadals, according to Sivolobov, had a superstitious fear of the beast. The Chukchi and Koryak called the beast “irkuyem” - literally “dragging along the ground” (or “dragging pants on the ground” ^[2] ). The Koryaks of the Tigil region, allegedly called him “Kainin-kutkh” (literally “bear-god”) ^[4] . Sivolobov suggested that irkuyem could be a species of the bear family unknown to science, which is on the verge of extinction. The habitats of the last representatives of this species could probably be in Olyutor, Karagin and Tigil regions ^[2] .

Articles about the mysterious bear appeared in 1986 - 1987, not only in local publications (the Koryak Communist and Kamchatsky Komsomolets newspapers), but also in the Pravda newspaper, as well as around the world and Okhota magazines. In 1988, the Kievnauchfilm studio made a film about the fauna of Kamchatka - “Where did the irkuyem go?”, The plot of which was based on the irkuyem problem ^{[4] [5]} .

Reconstruction of the possible appearance of the irkuyem, based on a set of rumors, legends and unconfirmed evidence of varying degrees of reliability, gives the image of a very large bear, approximately twice as large as a brown bear (the weight of the irkuyem was estimated at 800-1000 kg ^[4] ). The front legs of the irkuyema are powerful, but curved. The hind legs are relatively much shorter than that of the brown bear and also curved, so when walking with the spruce, it lowers the ass very low, almost dragging it. This impression is amplified due to the sagging, heavy lower body, like a fat tail . The color of the skin of irkuyem is much lighter than that of a brown bear - almost gray. Irkuyem movements are slow and clumsy. When meeting people, the large size, short legs and saggy butt do not give him the opportunity to quickly hide ^[1] .

There are very serious doubts about the plausibility of RN Sivolobov's messages, and the skin and skull that he has, according to a number of authors, most likely belong to a large brown bear ^{[1] [4] [5]} . It was also reported that surveys of the indigenous population, local hunting experts, huntsmen , etc. showed a lack of information about the bears, whose appearance would be very different from the usual ones ^[1] . In addition, the remains of an unusual bear, which enthusiasts claimed, were never presented for study, despite written requests from zoologists ^[3] . The complete absence of the remains of Irkuyem from the local population, actively hunting for bears, also raised questions ^[2] .

There is an opinion that giant bears, which really occasionally caught the eye of people in Chukotka and Kamchatka, are nothing more than Alaskan grizzlies (one of the subspecies of the brown bear, which is especially large in size), which crossed the Bering Strait . It was also suggested that bears of unusual appearance could be either freaks or extremely rare cases of a cross between a polar and a brown bear — in both cases they were not very viable and probably quickly died ^[1] . Some scholars in the 1980s believed that ircuyem could be a fossil giant North American short- faced bear ( lat. Arctodus symus ) ^[3] , which has survived to this day - which seems very unlikely due to the fact that the fossil remains of the short-faced bear are unknown in Siberia.

Irkuyem’s problem is still open, although interest in it has noticeably faded.

• Bergman Bear