Police Shot a Polar Bear That Showed up in an Unexpected Place

A polar bear showed up in a remote village in Iceland and was rummaging around in some garbage when police shot it. Polar bears are a rare sight in Iceland. They’re native to Greenland and only occasionally make it over to Iceland on ice floes. This one was close to an elderly woman’s home, and authorities deemed it a threat to human life.

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Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson told The Associated Press that police consulted with the country’s Environment Agency, which “declined to have the animal relocated.” Therefore, there was only one choice.

“It’s not something we like to do,” Jensson said. “In this case [. . .] the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman in there.”

Reports suggest the owner was alone in her home and felt frightened. She locked herself upstairs and called for help by satellite link.

Though rare, polar bear attacks do occur. The Associated Press reports there have been 73 documented polar bear attacks on humans between 1870 and 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and United States.

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