Eminol | Norway | Sweden | Denmark | Sikunews | Hindi | Tamil | Polsk
Second polar bear shot in Iceland
This polar bear had travelled from Greenland...
Published: 18.06.2008 14:00
A second polar bear that managed to swim to Iceland from Greenland has been shot, the second in two weeks, reports the Politiken newspaper.

A polar bear that found its way to Iceland June 17 was supposed to be picked up by a crew from Copenhagen Zoo and taken back to Greenland.

But police sharpshooters killed the bear, who locals had christened Ofeig, on Iceland on Tuesday evening.

Officials said the bear had attacked a group of journalists "in panic," Der Speigel reports.

The Icelandic public broadcaster RUV said a 12-year-old girl first spotted the bear in front of her parents' farmhouse near the town of Saudarkrokur on the Skaga fiord and raised the alarm.

The bear had apparently wandered into a bird reserve and had been eating large quantities of birds' eggs.


"We tried to get within shooting range, but then the bear ran up over a hill and out towards the sea. We decided it would have posed too great a danger if we let it swim away," said Carsten Grøndahl, head veterinarian at Copenhagen Zoo. "We couldn't know where she would have come on land again. You can't have a dangerous animal running around, so we had to put people's safety first."

The polar bear was the second from Greenland to be killed in Iceland over the past two weeks. The first bear was shot by hunters amid protests from animal rights groups.

Share/Save/Bookmark
International
17.12.2010 13:31
Siku's pause has extended as considered whether to continue this daily circumpolar news round-up In the meantime, we encourage you to consult our archived material, much of which is not accessible elsewhere on the internet.
Read more
13.12.2010 12:24
This is the first time in history this is being done in the winter.
Read more
08.12.2010 12:43
You can fly to the Mediterranean more cheaply than from Hammerfest to Kirkenes.
Read more
08.12.2010 12:24
But Finland topples from first place in a world schools survey.
Read more
01.12.2010 15:09
International Aids Day focuses this year on the right to receive medical treatment and support.
Read more
01.12.2010 14:59
There are now nine ice hotels— including this one in the village of Kononvskaya in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
Read more
28.11.2010 16:19
The deal calls for more cooperation— the construction of new tankers.
Read more
20.11.2010 14:51
"Some of our most valuable areas is such that they are losing their preservation status and might not be the future attractions the tourist industry needs them to be."
Read more
17.11.2010 11:04
Greenland's MP Juliane Henningsen, who spoke in favor of more Arctic cooperation.

Read more
15.11.2010 12:54
More than 20 business plan to hold a mini-trade fair at the Katuaq on Nov. 16.
Read more
15.11.2010 12:45
The new charges which will come into effect in 2012 are part of a carbon gas offset system intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more
14.11.2010 11:42
"The Aboriginal peoples of this country who worked for so many years to see this day arrive"
Read more
11.11.2010 12:01
The British defense secretary joined a meeting of Nordic and Baltic colleagues in Oslo Nov. 10.
Read more
10.11.2010 11:20
“In recent years, vessels with links to human smuggling, drug trafficking, and organized crime have attempted to access the Canadian Arctic"
Read more
09.11.2010 12:16
Finnish president Tarja Halonen is meeting President Dmitri Medvedev this week in Moscow for talks which may see visa-free travel between Finland and Russia. 
Read more
08.11.2010 11:04
After a two-year break Barentsburg is back up and running.
Read more