Polar bear saved from starvation after getting can stuck in mouth in Russia

A "skinny" polar bear has been saved after a tin can stuck to its tongue had caused it to starve.

The young, female bear had walked into Dikson, a remote settlement in nothernmost Russia, in order to seek help from the humans there.

It is thought the tin of condensed milk caught onto the bear's tongue when she was searching through a rubbish heap for food.

Unable to remove the can from the polar bear's mouth without help, the inhabitants of Dikson sounded the alarm.

A team of vets from Moscow Zoo had to wait for dangerous flying conditions to pass before setting off to the settlement, further raising concerns that the hungry bear would not survive.

However, when the team eventually arrived, they tranquilised the bear and carefully removed the can from her mouth. They also treated cuts that the left metal had left behind.

Mikhail Alshinetsky, a vet from Moscow Zoo, said the team found the bear "skinny and slightly dehydrated".

He added: "The tongue is damaged, but will most likely recover because the underlying muscles are not affected, the skin on the surface is damaged."

According to Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia's environmental watchdog, the team have left three bags of fish near the bear and will continue to monitor her when she wakes up from the anaesthetic.