Polar bear shot in the Arctic after attacking a guide

A polar bear, a protected species since 1973 and weakened by the melting of the pack ice, was shot down Saturday on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, in the Arctic Ocean, after attacking guides who had just landed from a cruise ship, MS Bremen . The exact circumstances of the incident, confirmed by the Norwegian authorities on Sunday, are not fully known.

"READ ALSO – Is this hungry polar bear really a victim of global warming?

In Svalbard, bears live in freedom. Located a thousand miles away from the North Pole and twice as big as Belgium, the territory would house a thousand polar bears according to a count of 2015. The German company Hapag-Lloyd Cruise explained in a post Facebook that a group of four guides, which was to prepare the landing of the tourists present aboard the ship on the north of the archipelago, would have been surprised by the animal that had not been spotted from the boat. The latter allegedly attacked one of the guides who wounded him in the head. His colleagues reportedly attempted to scare the animal away, being forced to shoot for their lives. It would therefore be an act of self-defense. "We regret very much this incident," said Moritz Krause, company spokesman.

The company had received permission from local authorities to dock. During this type of excursion, it is mandatory to be accompanied by armed guides, responsible for checking the area before landing to ensure that there are no polar bears. If an animal is seen, it is forbidden to dismount. In this case, the tourists did not seem to have started landing on the archipelago at the time of the attack. It remains to be seen why the guides had not seen the animal before arriving, but the rugged relief of the coast could explain it.

5 deadly attacks in 40 years

This is not the first Svalbard is the scene of polar bear attacks on humans. Five fatal attacks have been counted in forty years. The last one was in 2011, when a bear attacked a group of 14 people who were camping on a tour organized by the British Exploration Schools Society. A 17-year-old Briton had been killed, and four members of the expedition wounded before the bear was shot down.

Tourism has grown significantly in the Arctic in recent years, particularly in Svalbard, raising fears upsurge of this type of events. The Norwegian authorities, however, are very strict about the conditions of access to the site and the incidents are often related to non-compliance with the safety rules.