Irkulyen ist der heilige Bar von Kamtschatka...

The Schamanen, a sub-group of the indigenous Korjaken people on the Kamtschatka peninsula, have for centuries told of "Irkulyen," (spirit bear). This creature is said to resemble a gigantic bear and anyone who encounters it meets with misfortune. Kamtschatka is very isolated; up to the fall of the USSR, only a few foreigners were allowed to travel there. But the Schamanen firmly believe in the existence of this bear. The Swede Stan Miner, one of few foreigners allowed to move freely about Kamtschatka, has worked for over forty years to prove the existence of this animal. He found gigantic bear prints, at least three times larger than a brown bear’s and estimated to be over a ton heavier. The US zoologist and bear expert Paul Ward considers the existence of Irkulyen probable. The description of the animal resembles the fossil finds of "Arctodus simus," a carnivorous bear of the last ice age that reached a length of over two meters as a fully mature adult. It occurred mainly in the northern Americas. Small populations of this species of bear might possibly still be found, particularly since Kamtschatka is largely unexplored.

Coming soon, Bear Pen Creek Chronicles, with pictures. Irkulyen lives...