Polar bear spotted in Iceland after 8 years, what police did next will leave you shocked
A polar bear in Iceland was handled by police in this way after being deemed a threat to residents near a remote village.
A polar bear in a remote village in northwest Iceland was shot and killed by police on September 19, after it was considered a threat to local residents. The bear had wandered close to a cottage, sparking concerns for the safety of the people in the area. Police made the decision to kill the animal after consulting with Iceland’s Environment Agency, which decided that relocating the bear was not a safe option.
Westfjords police chief Helgi Jensson told AP that while it was not an action they wanted to take, the bear was too close to a summer house. Inside the house was an elderly woman, who was alone at the time. She had locked herself upstairs in fear when the bear began rummaging through her garbage. The woman used a satellite link to contact her daughter in Reykjavik for help. Luckily, she remained safe and stayed upstairs as instructed by police.
Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but occasionally they drift ashore from Greenland on ice floes. The bear that was killed was the first one sighted in Iceland since 2016. Over the centuries, there have only been about 600 recorded sightings of polar bears in the country. The bear weighed between 150 and 200 kilograms and will be taken to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History for examination. Scientists will study its health, check for parasites or infections, and may preserve its pelt and skull for the institute’s collection.
Although polar bears are a protected species in Iceland, authorities are allowed to take lethal action if a bear poses a danger to humans or livestock. While attacks on humans by polar bears are very rare, a 2017 study showed that climate change and the loss of sea ice are pushing hungry polar bears to venture onto land more often, increasing the chances of encounters with humans. Between 1870 and 2014, there were 73 recorded attacks by wild polar bears across the five countries where they are found, resulting in 20 deaths and 63 injuries.
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