A polar bear that drifted to Iceland was shot while rummaging through trash near a residential area.
According to reports from AP and others, a young polar bear weighing between 150 to 200 kg was shot by police last week while rummaging through garbage near a cabin in a village in Westfjords, Iceland.
The police assessed that the bear threatened an older woman staying inside the cabin and consulted with environmental authorities. The older woman, who was at the cabin then, reportedly locked herself indoors and hid in fear. Although polar bears are classified as a protected species in Iceland, they can be killed if they pose a threat to humans or livestock.
Helgi Jensson, the chief of Westfjords Police, commented on the situation, saying, “It’s not something we like to do.” He added, “In this case, as you can see in the picture, the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman in there.”
This was the first time a polar bear had been spotted in Iceland in eight years since 2016. While Iceland is not a natural habitat for polar bears, it is reported that they occasionally drift from Greenland on ice floes. In 2008, two polar bears from Greenland were spotted in Iceland.
Experts believe climate change reduces polar bears’ habitats, leading to more sightings on land.
Studies suggest that hungry polar bears moving into residential areas raises the risk for both humans and bears. Research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management in 2017 reported 73 polar bear attacks recorded in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the U.S. from 1870 to 2014. Notably, 15 of these attacks occurred in the last five years of the study period.
