Arrived on an ice floe First polar bear to reach Iceland since 2016 - police shoot it dead
Hundreds of kilometers separate Iceland from Greenland. Nevertheless, a polar bear has made it to the island in the North Atlantic. There, however, its life was quickly ended.
20.09.2024, 15:03
dpa
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- A polar bear has reached Iceland and has been shot by the police for safety reasons.
- The animal probably came from Greenland on an ice floe.
- Repatriation has been ruled out for fear of disease transmission.
For the first time in many years, a polar bear has set foot on the North Atlantic island of Iceland. The police shot the animal - and announced that they had no other choice. The measure was taken in close consultation with the environmental authorities.
The animal had presumably arrived on an ice floe from Greenland in the northwest of Iceland - a distance of several hundred kilometers. An increasing number of icebergs had recently been sighted off the coast, reported broadcaster RÚV.
Bringing the animal back to Greenland was out of the question, it said. The reason for this was also the fear that the polar bear could introduce diseases from Iceland.
The predator was relatively healthy, said an expert. The 150 to 200 kilogram carcass is now to be examined in the capital Reykjavik.
Previous polar bear sighting was in 2016
The last time a polar bear was spotted in Iceland was in 2016. After two specimens came to Iceland in 2008, the authorities decided that polar bears should be killed there, even though the species is endangered.
The animals are a danger to humans and livestock. They also very probably came from a population in East Greenland, which is stable, and the costs of repatriating them would be far too high.
In any case, experts believe that polar bears cannot survive in Iceland in the long term. There is no sea ice there and the food supply is limited. Females could neither give birth nor raise offspring on the volcanic island.