Emily Chan
A rare polar bear was spotted in Iceland for the first time since 2016—and it was promptly shot dead by police after being considered a threat.
Police consulted with environmental authorities, who declined to have the bear relocated. So, there was no other option but to kill the animal.
Polar bears are not native to Iceland. It is believed the bear traveled to Iceland on ice floes all the way from Greenland, a journey of hundreds of miles.
According to Anna Sveinsdóttir, the director of scientific collections at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, many icebergs have recently been spotted off the north Icelandic coast. Occasionally, polar bears will come to shore on such icebergs.
The bear had wandered near a cottage in a remote village in Iceland. The owner of the cottage was home alone and locked herself upstairs as the bear went through her garbage.
She contacted her daughter in Reykajavík, the nation’s capital, via satellite link and called for help.
The bear was killed in the northwest of Iceland. It was healthy and weighed between 330 and 440 pounds. It was transported back to Reykajavík for testing. Scientists will check for any parasites and infections.
“It’s not something we like to do,” said Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson. “In this case…the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman in there.”
Polar bear attacks on humans are incredibly rare, but the loss of sea ice due to global warming has led more bears to land.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
