These brown bears are keen to play with discarded barrels - because they have developed a nose for aviation fuel.
The creatures sniff kerosene and gasoline from containers left in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in the far east of Russia.
They take deep breaths for minutes at a time before digging a shallow hole and lying in a 'nirvana' position.
The fuel is used to power generators and helicopters used by nature reserve workers.
Photographer Igor Shpilenok, 52, spent seven months with the community of bears.
He said some of the addicted predators even stalked helicopters, waiting for take off and drops of fuel to leak onto the hard soil for them to hoover up.
He added: 'In another case a helicopter brought a few barrels of gasoline.
'Workers of the nature reserve didn't take them in time and a female bear named Suzemka - who is apparently fasciated by the smell of fuel - used the opportunity.
'She seems to be one of the addicts.'
The Kronotsky Nature Reserve, in South Kamchatka, is home to more than 700 brown bears.
They are thought to be the largest brown bears in the world, weighing up to 1,200lb.
The sanctuary covers 225,000 hectares of land and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
The climate ranges between extremely hot and cold - earning it the label 'land of fire and ice'.
You can view the images of the bears here.
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