A uncommon polar bear that was noticed in a distant village in Iceland was shot by police after being thought-about a menace, authorities have mentioned.
The bear was killed within the north-west tip of the nation after police consulted the nationwide setting company, which declined to have the animal relocated, in response to the Westfjords police chief, Helgi Jensson.
“It’s not one thing we love to do,” Jensson mentioned. “On this case … the bear was very near a summer time home. There was an previous girl in there.”
The proprietor, who was alone, was frightened and locked herself upstairs because the bear rummaged via her rubbish, Jensson mentioned. She contacted her daughter in Reykjavik, the capital, by satellite tv for pc hyperlink, and referred to as for assist.
“She stayed there,” Jensson mentioned, including that different summer time residents within the space had gone residence. “She knew the hazard.”
Polar bears are usually not native to Iceland however sometimes come ashore after touring on ice floes from Greenland, in response to Anna Sveinsdóttir, the director of scientific collections on the Icelandic Institute of Pure Historical past. Many icebergs have been noticed off the north coast in the previous couple of weeks.
The bear shot on Thursday was the primary one seen within the nation since 2016. Sightings are comparatively uncommon, with solely 600 recorded in Iceland for the reason that ninth century.
Whereas the bears are a protected species in Iceland and it’s forbidden to kill one at sea, they are often killed in the event that they pose a menace to people or livestock.
After two bears arrived in 2008, a debate over killing the threatened species led the setting minister to nominate a activity pressure to review the problem, the institute mentioned. The duty pressure concluded that killing vagrant bears was probably the most applicable response.
The group mentioned the non-native species posed a menace to folks and animals, and the price of returning them to Greenland, about 180 miles away, was exorbitant. It additionally discovered there was a wholesome bear inhabitants in east Greenland, from the place any bear was prone to have come.
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The younger bear, which weighed between 150 and 200kg, can be taken to the institute to be studied. Scientists took samples from the bear on Friday.
They are going to be checking for parasites and infections and evaluating its bodily situation, such because the well being of its organs and proportion of physique fats, Sveinsdóttir mentioned. The pelt and cranium could also be preserved for the institute’s assortment.
A coast guard helicopter surveyed the realm the place the bear was discovered to search for others however didn’t discover any, police mentioned.
After the shot bear was taken away, the lady who reported it determined to remain longer within the village, Jensson mentioned.
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