Overview
- Vitaly Nikolayenko, a senior ranger at Russia's Kronotsky Wildlife Reserve, lived alone on the Tikhaya River to study brown bears.
- On the day he disappeared, he was awaiting helicopter pickup, and tracks indicated he followed a large male to a lakeside grove and approached to about three meters.
- Investigators reported finding an unfired flare gun, a bloodied camera, and pepper spray he tried to use in self-defense.
- His final diary entry was described as a sarcastic remark about weather forecasts, according to guide Victor Rebrikov's account to the Los Angeles Times.
- Known as "the man who talks to bears," he averaged roughly 800 bear encounters a year, drew criticism for close-contact methods, and was remembered by his widow for an all-consuming devotion to fieldwork.