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Of: Martin Nilsson
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Veijo Toivoniemi recently accomplished the near impossible: capturing a rare polar bear in one image.
– It was lovely. An unforgettable experience, he tells Ilta Sanomat newspaper.
Photo: Veijo Toivoniemi
“An unforgettable experience,” says photographer Veijo Toivoniemi after capturing the polar bear in the photo.
When Veijo Toivoniemi was taking pictures in an area near the town of Kuhmo in Kainuu in eastern Finland, he suddenly saw a polar bear, writes the Ilta Sanomat newspaper.
– I knew such a bear had been seen in the area, but no photographs had been taken before. “He was in the right place at the right time,” Veijo Toivoniemi tells the newspaper.
The bear remained in the area, known for its many brown bears, but usually for about a quarter of an hour. Then a bigger male bear came along and scared her off.
– It was lovely. They rarely appear, this is probably the only time in my life that I will see a bear like this. An unforgettable experience, says Veijo Toivoniemi, who has been involved in nature photography for 17 years.
“An exceptional individual”
Ilpo Kojol, a research professor at the Finnish Center for Natural Resources, tells the newspaper that this type of bear sighting is very unusual, even internationally.
According to the professor, the white – or pale, as he calls it – belongs to a litter of bears that began to be seen in the area two years ago. Kojola believes that the bear’s pigment has been influenced by genetic factors.
– The bear is not albino, but very pale. I have never seen a bear looking like this before. But who knows, maybe there are a few more in the world, says Ilpo Kojol.
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