Posted on 06/08/2008 1:02:51 PM PDT by Red Steel
A polar bear that swam more than 200 miles through near-freezing water to reach Iceland was shot by local police - just in case it posed a danger to humans.
The death of the bear, thought to be the first to reach Iceland in about 15 years, caused a public outcry from animal lovers, the Guardian reported. A police spokesperson said that it would not have been possible to sedate the bear.
"There was fog up in the hills and we took the decision to kill the bear before it could disappear into the fog," police spokesman Petur Bjornsson.
Iceland’s environment minister, Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir is said to have given the green light for police to shoot to kill because it would have taken 24 hours for a proper tranquilizer to be flown to the scene.
A vet from a neighboring town, however, criticized the decision, claiming that he had the drugs necessary in the trunk of his car.
"If the narcotics gun would have been sent by plane, it would have arrived within an hour," he said. "They could keep tabs on the bear for that long."
The bear is believed to have swam either about 200 miles from Greenland or from some distant chunk of Arctic ice. The last time a polar bear made a similar journey to reach Iceland was in 1993, and that bear was also shot to death.
The tragedy is being cited as a reminder of the impact that receding North Pole ice has on its animal inhabitants - the shrinking of the polar bears' hunting and mating grounds and the ripple effect on the area's eco-system.
A rep for PolarWorld, a German group dedicated to the preservation of the polar regions, called the bear's death "an avoidable tragedy ... another great day for mankind."
I suppose it would have been worse to make him swim back.
Polar bears are trying to expand their range. ;-0
Send a Peta Representative out to welcome the bear and pet it on the nose.
“A polar bear that swam more than 200 miles through near-freezing water to reach Iceland was shot by local police.”
It just wasn’t his day.
Interesting. A polar bear can swim 200 miles. But yet one picture of a polar bear on an iceberg and we are suppose to be in a panic, as if there is not more solid ground within swimming distance of the poor bear.
That is a shame. He just wanted to do the jobs that Icelanders did not want to do.
A good call for the cops. Who gets the bear’s pelt?
Global Warming Made the Police Do It!
Which leads me to think of something:
Miss Brown: Say hey where is your homework Jim?
Jim: Oh Global Warming Ate it.
I am having too much fun on this website. I should tune out right now.
More irrational histrionics from global warming idiots. I could just as easily, and with greater validity, claim that the ice sheet is growing and putting bears closer to Iceland, else they wouldn't be able to make the journey.
Hmmmm.
I thought Albore’s peeps told us that polar bears were drowning because they can’t swim.
Iceland has nothing for him to eat but humans. On the other hand, one lone bear will not feed Iceland either.
Reminds me of the otter they nursed back to health after an oil spill and released, only to be immediately eaten by an Orca whale.
I thought they automatically drowned after 50 miles.
That was freaking stupid! Could they not just tranquilize the little bugger and ship him else where????
It does not take a brain surgeon to figure stuff like this out.
Clearly demand has far outstripped supply for polar bear rugs....sounds like the arrival was 'very timely' and will bring a princely sum
If they’d have just held off shooting the bear he’d have probably died within 24 hours from heat prostration, isn’t that so, Al.
Yes, that's the most plausible explanation. The Globull Warming people say it's because the Arctic icecap is receding that this polar bear was found in Iceland. If the polar bears need ice to survive, they would recede with the icecap into the Arctic circle? I've heard that the Polar Bears are 5x more in population than they were in 1972.
Iceland does have seals, which is a major component of a polar bears diet.
MMMMM-BOY! BEAR BURGERS!
Excellent point!
"The tragedy is being cited as a reminder of the impact that receding North Pole ice has on its animal inhabitants..."
Do you know how they keep track of how much pressure the bears are under? - with a bearometer.
I’m no animals rights loony but that is down right sad.
I’d tend to agree. I guess cops everywhere are short on patience.
LOL, did your 4 year old tell you that one?
“Iceland’s environment minister, Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir is said to have given the green light for police to shoot to kill because it would have taken 24 hours for a proper tranquilizer to be flown to the scene.”
guess they didn’t have any other choice, it’s sad to see the bear go, but they still might have had a legitimate reason to do so. Either way, I’m not there so I can’t second guess their decision.
he wanted a job that Icelandic bears refused to do.
So says the Goracle.
By this logic America must kill all grizzly and brown bears as dangers to humans.
Better to set public policy with illegallay invasive polar bears than to let it creep out of hand. Next, the giraffes and ostriches will begin to slip in unawares.
Also learned the polar bears were one of few animals who could swim in the frigid northern waters--"polar" bears for a reason.
Today's hysteria is almost more than I can stand.
vaudine
A polar bear was shot by local Iceland police; only 24,999 to go.
Oh great. This will be the Abu Ghraib for the methane police.
This bear probably floated 195 miles on an ice shelf and maybe swam five miles to shore. They have been known to swim 20 miles but it’s not an everyday affair.
They tend to eat vegetation only as a last resort, they prefer meat.
Polar bears are seen all the time swimming anywhere from 60 to 100 miles out at sea. This is nothing unusual.
Shooting polar bears accelerates Global Warming, doesn’t it? Something like that. I heard it on TV, or somewhere. Bush lied, people died. I’m like, you know?
I agree..
“The bear is believed to have swam either about 200 miles from Greenland or from some distant chunk of Arctic ice.”
If it had not been for the ice, this bear would be alive today. We need to melt that ice to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The last time a polar bear made a similar journey to reach Iceland was in 1993, and that bear was also shot to death.
The tragedy is being cited as a reminder of the impact that receding North Pole ice has on its animal inhabitants - the shrinking of the polar bears' hunting and mating grounds and the ripple effect on the area's eco-system.
Did global warming drive the 1993 bear to make the long swim, too? I thought temps were pretty stable back then.
Wow, two hundred mile swim!
Probably made the meat tough.
Where's the bear keep the odometer?
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