Russia investigates after bear fed bomb

Russian authorities have launched an investigation into the "cold-blooded killing" of a polar bear who was apparently fed an explosive device, the country's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry says.

A video of the killing, in the country's remote north-eastern Wrangel Island, was recently posted on the internet and shows a female polar bear wallowing in the snow as blood pours out of her throat.

Polar bears are a protected species in Russia, and the ministry's head, Sergei Donskoi, personally pressed the Prosecutor General's Office to launch a thorough investigation, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The bear in question had a small cub and came to a construction site on the island seeking food, the television channel Ren-TV reported, citing witnesses.

A cook on the construction site gave food to the mother bear and then decided to feed her an explosive device "for the sake of amusement," the report said.