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New Delhi. A white polar bear, which was seen after a long time in Iceland, was shot because it was a threat to the local people. It is being told that when the environment agency was consulted about this polar bear, it was also against sending the animal from that place to another place, after which this step had to be taken on 19 September.
“We didn’t want to do this. We don’t like it at all,” AP quoted Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson as saying. He added that the bear was very close to a summer house where an old woman lived. The woman, who was alone at the time, locked herself upstairs in fear because the bear was rummaging through her garbage. The frightened old woman contacted her daughter in Reykjavik via satellite link.
Stating that other summer residents had already left the area and the woman knew such a danger could be posed, Jensen said, “But she stayed there anyway.” According to Anna Svensdottir, director of scientific collections at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, white bears are not native to Iceland, but occasionally travel on icebergs from Greenland to Iceland’s shores. Several icebergs have been seen on the northern coast in the past few weeks.
The bear killed on September 19 was the first sighting in Iceland since 2016. It was only the 600th sighting since the ninth century. The report said the bear, estimated to weigh between 150 and 200 kilograms, will be taken to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History for further study. According to the AP report, although the white bear, also known as the polar bear, is a protected species in the country, authorities can take lethal action if they pose a threat to humans or animals.
first published : Sep 21, 2024, 8:12 pm IST
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