The polar bear tagged by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has rid himself of his tagged satellite collar, Vesti TV channel reported on Thursday, quoting the premier's web site.

Putin put the satellite collar on a polar bear during a trip in April 2010 to Alexandra Land, one of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in Russia's far north, where scientists are studying the movements of endangered polar bears.

In July, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology approved a strategy for polar bear preservation in Russia.

According to scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the loss of the collar is "a normal situation linked to the Arctic beast's growth" and more collars will be put on polar bears during next expeditions to continue the research.

Putin's website reported that the bear lost the collar in late August, but the device kept transmitting its signal and is being used to track the movement of ice floes.

MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti)