Anti-hunting Russian models pose with living wild bear

WHY pose with dead animals when you can be in a photo with a real-life massive bear? That’s what these anti-hunting Russian models did.

Bear-back: Lidia Fetisova gest up close with a bear for this photoshoot. Pic: Olga Barantseva/ Caters News

WHEN American woman Alison Reynolds posed behind a dead zebra with a gun in her hand, she was named and shamed on social media.

And when extreme huntress Rebecca Francis posed laying next to a dead giraffe she too was hunted on social media.

Now anti-hunters are showing you don’t have to kill a giant wild animal to pose in a photo with one.

Scantily clad Russian models Maria Sidorova and Lidia Fetisova braved both the freezing cold and the claws of a massive bear as they kissed and hugged the 1400-pound not-so-teddybear named Stephen.

“We wanted to show the natural harmony between humans and bears,” said photographer Olga Barantseva who took the pictures for Caters News Agency.

“We all need to live side-by-side in harmony and not hunt our fellow citizens who live in the forest — not hunt them,” she told the New York Post.

Yuriy Panteleenko said the bear was almost dead when he found it in the hands of hunters.

Panteleenko coaxed the mellow fellow into the photo poses by offering him his favourite treats — mozzarella and cookies.

Sidorova said the bear shoot experience exceeded her dreams.

“I could hug a real bear, speak to him and hide under his giant paw,” she gushed. “In the beginning I was frightened, but as soon as I hugged him I felt his warmth and how soft his fur was.”

Yuriy Panteleenko with the bear. Pic: Olga Barantseva/ Caters News