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.
Icelands 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."
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?
They’re easier to shoot when they’re tired!
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,
Oh. My. Dear. metesky............
the only word I can think of is..........**perfect**
Like me (also an omnivore).
I don't know when blowing up, cutting down and blasting away at any semblance of natural beauty became a conservative value, and the words of some of your detractors suggest that conservatism is going to spend a long time wandering in the wilderness awaiting a new set of stone tablets.
I guess it was a better end than the probable tragic death that he would have suffered from global warming ........
Alot of sarcasm in here from all the usual bullies.. I think the cops should pay for that.....they were wrong.
I’m embarrassed that Conservatives are considered the heartless ones.....but there’s alot of proof in here alone.
And sheep.
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