A polar bear which was found wandering in north Iceland was shot yesterday by the authorities. The bear, an adult male weighing around 250kg, is presumed to have swum from Greenland or from a distant chunk of Arctic ice.
The decision to shoot the polar bear was agreed to by the Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir as the correct tranquiliser to sedate the animal was not available in Iceland and could only be flown in the following morning, reports Icelandic news channel Visir.is.
It had been proposed to try to sedate the animal and move it back to Greenland, but the police decided it was safest to kill the bear immediately.
“There was fog up in the hills and we took the decision to kill the bear before it could dissappear into the fog”, said Petur Bjornsson from the police at Saudarkrokur, near Skagafjordur where the bear was found.
The distance between Iceland and Greenland is about 300 km (200 miles). Although there are no confirmed records of a polar bear swimming between the two countries, the animal has considerable stamina and could have made the crossing if there had been icebergs on the way to rest on.
Polar bears were recently listed as a threated species by the US because its Arctic sea ice habitat is melting due to climate change. US government scientists have predicted that two-thirds of the polar bear population of 25,000 could disappear by 2050.
Footage of the polar bear walking around before being shot can be seen at mbl.is.
[…] as a vulnerable species since 2006 and reports last year of unusual, exhausting long journeys ending in tragedy make me feel like I’m watching something slow and inexorable unfold like getting near the end […]
Thanks for this info
Well, first of all, I am amazed with the amount of reactions to my initial comment. I did not really expect that.
I will still claim that the “little fellow” did not pose any sincere danger to any humans. How difficult could it have been serving the “little fellow” 10 pounds of beef from the local super market. When a predator is full it does not go hunting any more.
You, my Nordic brothers of Iceland, would have been able to tranquilize the “little fellow” put him in a cage, and contact other countries.
Such as Canada, Denmark plus many others who actually do have a sincere respect for wild life and how to preserve it. I am also quite confident that many zoo’s would have been happy to receive the “little fellow”.
But all the glory goes to the “little officer” who killed a young polar bear.
Congrat’s Iceland ;-)
And now we have just shot another polar-bear. The second one was a female bear. There are no ways of putting the animal to sleep in iceland so after we had to shoot the first one we got someone from Denmark to help us with this one but just like the otherone we had shoot her before we lost sight of her. After she had been shot authorities noticed that she had been to weak and wounded to survive the trip back to Greenland.
Why are people angry at Iceland anyway? People in Greenland are autharized to kill 50 polar-bears every year, we shoot two in 15 years and everyone freaks out? How come?
A voice from Down Under.
I woke today to a sickening picture in the news paper of an under weight, obviously frightened and lost artic warrior in a death pose. My immidiate reaction was that incompitant authorities were to blame, but time softened my stance and by mid morning I began to realise that what i was looking at was just a result of the our planets stress today.
But there again my initial reaction was probably correct : perhaps the Icelandic authorities should construct notices round the coastline stating ” If you are a hungry, tierd and lost Polar Bear F…Off or you will be shot”
iceland is not a horrible country..it’s just that those policemen were fucking assholes
don’t judge iceland by a few fucktard policemen
please
those guys are assholes-(most)icelandic people are not
Hello to all
I am from Portugal but now living in Brazil.
Nothing compares to this huge country. Believe me!
If you do not know, this country can be the only one to beat China in a near future. Beautiful people, amazing weather, so many kind of food, and nature all around.
But, even these local newspapers published notes rejecting this attitude of Icelandic authorities, plus, ironically making a joke saying this is an attitude of a typical Brazilian authorities(!!!)
Although Portugal does not give any example to the world of “how to protect the earth” (so to speak), this is unacceptable anywhere.
Regards from Brazil.
Diogo
I just recently read of this very disturbing shooting in Iceland. I am a US citizen who is a member of the NRDC who has been fighting our President for months now.. raising funds for adds … trying to educate the public about the truth of the future of these creatures to FINALLY only recently convince Bush to add the Polar Bears to the endangered species list given the risk that “we the people” have imposed on them. I just don’t understand, and just cannot comprehend such a short sighted resolve from your Minister. This is just one more atrocity that humans have commited against one of our own beings that share this earth. This was an absolutely unnecessary killing. My soul is burdened.
I THINK THE PEOPLE OF ICELAND ARE HORRIBLE TO KILL A DEFENSELESS POLAR BEAR .WHAT ARE YOU SCARED OF? I LIVE IN ALASKA AND WE RESPECT BEARS .THE WILDLIFE AND OUR ENVIROMENT.YVONNE SHOHL
A polar bear without an aggressive attitude?? It is one of the wildest animals on earth! It can kill you in a stroke of its claws. What if one of the Icelandic people was killed by this animal. Should the killing of the animal than be justified or was the killed human being just an accident. Don’t misunderstand me, the killing of this beautiful creature makes me sad also, but the safety of human beings is priority. The bear was trespassing and cannot live together in the same environment as people because of the bears behaviour. The bear will always kill its opponent, human or animal.
Killing a polar bear before it reached the fog? It was looking for a home or maybe its young..and you think killing it is the best option? Those authorities are sick and should be put on trial, i am telling PETA about this site ASAP. KK THX.
[…] Ice News […]
bloodiness
I’M so sad
Why should this happen? Friends in the area say the bear didn’t have any aggressive attitude. It was just a bunch of idiots, obviously enjoying killing that did it as something to boast about, and after people started reacting they came up with the “threat” story.
Those responsible for this crime should face justice.
My complimets to Icelandic Police.
First of all, i’m italian and I’m sure the attention to environment is more developped in the north of Europe than in the south (we cannot give lessons to anyone in this field)
That’s the reason why the kill of a polar bear sounds so incredible to my ears! It was the first apparition since 1993 and I hope the last one for this race in this island.
It was a hard decition, to kill the bear. But a polar bear is one of the most dangerouse annimals on earth. And without the iceshells to hunt the seals, he would become more hungry every day and would propebly come near populated areas. So my opinion is, it´s bad to kill the bear, but it was the thing to do. I wouldn´d like to go hiking and suddenly cross the way of a 250kg hungry bear with 8cm teeth. And there has been a similar insident in Austria and Italy. when a “small” brown bear was killed and not cought alive because he was a danger to people. And you can´t compair Polarbears and Brownbears. Brownbears do not kill little whales or big elefantseals, and,…… like there big white brouthers.
What is wrong with you people? This is a BEAR we are talking about! If a bear would appear near your towns and the police were about to lose sight of him you would’nt say: “Don’t shoot him, let’s just wait and see where he’ll pop up… Maybe in my backyard, let’s just wait and see.” You would want them to take care of the problem and make sure that you and your family is safe. It’s sad that this had to end this way but I’m glad it’s him instead of my neighbours.
It never ceases to amaze me when I see how prepared some people are to dish out harsh judgement without trying to realistically analyze or understand a situation. I’m not asking that you take the time to research or put yourselves in another’s shoes before you bellow, the “risk averse” comment really says it all. I guess it’s the same with Polarbears, they too kill first and then ask (“Am I hungry?”) The total lack of regard for the safety of the people is in strong contrast to your flowery love for animals and nature.
Hi
I am English (not too far from you guys in Iceland) and a fair few of us have something of a viking heritage
I have sought out an icelandic newspaper to express my disgust at the killing of the Polar bear. The photograph of the marksmen in the British press has rather of a “trophy” mentality about it, rather like the photos of the amateur big game hunters of the Victorian era. I thought we had all moved on from that ? The bear swam 200 miles to be shot for God’s sake !
Michael Taylor
We are all so risk averse. How weak is that Minister. Sure, we can’t second guess the local police but it’s simple. Everyone go inside for a few hours, get some suitable tranquilizer and relocate the bear. You’re telling me in all of Iceland that no tranquilizer was available? What sort of mickey mouse country is that? You Icelander’s should be ashamed of yourselves.
The incident has been heavily debated in Iceland. In view of allt the evidence it’s clear that the shooting was completely justifiable. There were around 60 bystanders in the area and the officials were afraid of losing the 250 kg animal in the fog. In Icelandic terrain it would have been impossible to predict where he would appear next. It would have difficult to explain the humane side to the parents of mauled children in the neighbouring villages. The officials made a good call in a tricky situation.
All the other comments about us crazy Icelanders and stupid human beings at large…
No comment :)
[…] (story) […]
Unfortunately it is us humans who pose the greatest danger to both biodiversity and the earth as whole – why cannot we tolerate just one species of animal in a country – the bear should be applauded for its stamina, willpower and sheer determination to explore and discover new territories – we do the same everyday but do this through unsuatainable and damaging means – I for one am offended to be part of this human race and I aint no hippie, vegan or eco warrior – just someone who cares for creatures other than our destructive selves!!
ha! a really big danger, a really big threat?!!? what a … people did u even red after your self, what a bull…t you wrote?!?!?! mary is right, totally agree with her. did u see the animals on weekends? every friday and saturday all around here in the streets?! this is real threat, did u see the wall on leakjartorg of the kids died on overdoase. i didnt know u re so shortsighted, u rather solve one little result than a motha big causality… think about that! … and maybe than u re gonna use a bike to go to shop (300m) rather than your suppa duppa big car…
Not excactly ashamed but this was a mistake.
I think this was just a bad bad news.They killed an endangered species and it did not pose any danger.The bear just wondered around the mountain and when people got close he went further.But when the crowd got bigger I think he just got curious.The man that shot the bear said that they had to shoot him becouse he was smelling out to the air.What the hell was the point of shooting him because of that?If he was looking for a prey the people would have dided not the bear.They are really fast!For my opinon the predators in this situaton was the people not the Polar bear.I really am ashamed of beeing an Icelandic.
No one was justified in taking the life of the polar bear. What…were farmers nervous it might take one of their sheep, hence losing a few bucks? Where were all these people that were in so much danger?
Danger? You give money to a man to help treat drug and alcohol adults, yet come to find out he was one himself and there have been claims he’s treated these individuals in “other ways.” What of the boys in the homes that were raped? I think humans are more in danger from other humans then they are a polar bear who can’t find fish because of all the countries overfishing the oceans.
The Minister of the Environment should be fired and/or severely reprimanded. This country has no reverence for what is right. I live here and see and read each day how “environmental” you really are. This action was even worse than your continuance to commercial whale.
The country claims it’s environmental. Why because you are lucky enough to have geothermal heat? Sorry, but you need more than that to claim you yourself “green.”
You’ve no trees, hence soil erosion, you kill whales to sell to Japan, you promote having children by sending unwed mother a check each month. What a great example you are setting for the younger generation. Hey .. what did you do for Earth day this year? Funny, I contacted many and could find no one partaking in it.
Iceland was listed as one of the richest countries in the world at one time with your main economy based on Marine Resources… funny … same thing the polar bear goes searching for.
Polar bears have been coming to Iceland for a while, so to tell the public you had no tranquilizers to use is ridiculous.
The policeman, hunters (that were hoping to get the chance to shoot yesterday), and Minister of the Environment should hang their heads in shame!
I wonder what Leonardo DiCaprio is thinking of this country now or better yet… Al Gore.
Mary Donofrio
I aggree that optimally the animal should have been preserved. The “little fellow” did however pose a very real danger to the human population and in my view the police was justified in deciding to put the bear him down rather than lose sight of him in the fog. It would have re-appeared in unpredictable places and circumstances, probably hungry, possibly lethal.
Hi Ole.
I agree with you and your sentiments about killing endangered animals but in this case the bear was moving quite fast, there were people and dwellings in the vicinity (so, yes the animal posed a great danger) and fog was descending on the area so the police decided that they could not risk waiting for the proper equipment to arrive so they shot the animal before it could eat anybody.
Sigvaldi Eggertsson.
First of all, I am a Danish citizen now working in USA. So we are kind of Nordic Brothers.
Therefor, how can you in any way justify killing a young polar bear (endangered species) we all must protect our earth. Did this little fellow pose a danger to anybody? Why could you not come up with the tranquilizar at first, then speak with either Denmark, Greenland or Canada. This is wild life in need of preservation. They need their habitat!
Regards,
Ole Schjoeth, Pennsylvania, USA