Rare polar bear found in Iceland, shot dead by police because it was deemed 'dangerous' – Firstpost

A rare polar bear spotted outside a hut in a remote village in Iceland was shot dead by police because it was deemed a threat, authorities said Friday.

The bear was killed in northwest Iceland on Thursday afternoon after police consulted the environmental agency, which refused to relocate the animal, Westfjords police chief Helgi Jensson told the Associated Press.

“This is not something we like to do,” Jensson said. “In this case, as you can see in the picture, the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman there.”

The owner, who was alone, became frightened and locked herself upstairs while the bear rummaged through her garbage, Jensson said. She contacted her daughter in Reykjavik, the country's capital, by satellite and called for help.

“She stayed there,” Jensson said, adding that other summer residents in the area had gone home. “She knew the danger.”

Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but occasionally come ashore after arriving on ice floes from Greenland, says Anna Sveinsdóttir, head of scientific collections at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. Many icebergs have been spotted off the north coast in recent weeks.

Although polar bear attacks on humans are extremely rare, a 2017 study in the Wildlife Society Bulletin states that the loss of sea ice due to global warming has led to more hungry bears coming ashore, increasing the likelihood of conflict with humans and putting both sides at risk.

Of the 73 documented polar bear attacks between 1870 and 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States – in which 20 people were killed and 63 injured – 15 occurred in the last five years of that period.

The bear shot on Thursday was the first to be spotted in the country since 2016. Sightings are relatively rare: only 600 bears have been spotted in Iceland since the 9th century.

Although bears are a protected species in Iceland and killing them at sea is prohibited, they may be killed if they pose a danger to people or livestock.

After the arrival of two bears in 2008, a debate about killing the endangered species prompted the Environment Minister to set up a working group to investigate the problem, the institute said. The working group concluded that killing the wandering bears was the most appropriate response.

The group said the alien species posed a threat to humans and wildlife and that the cost of returning them to Greenland, some 300 kilometers away, was exorbitant. It also noted that there was a healthy bear population in East Greenland, where the bears are believed to have come from.

The young bear, which weighs between 150 and 200 kilograms, will be brought to the institute for examination. Scientists took samples from the bear on Friday.

They will examine the animal for parasites and infections and assess its physical condition, such as the health of its organs and body fat percentage, Sveinsdóttir said. The fur and skull may be kept for the institute's collection.

A Coast Guard helicopter searched the area where the bear was found for other bears but was unable to locate any, police said.

After the shot bear was taken away, the woman who reported the incident decided to stay in the village longer, Jensson said.