Polar bear shot dead after 200 mile swim

Daily News ^ | June 6th 2008 | AMANDA L. PENTLER

[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."

[skimbell]

"...The last time a polar bear made a similar journey to reach Iceland was in 1993, and that bear was also shot to death..."

Well, that's one hell way to handle an illegal alien problem.

[ODC-GIRL]

A couple of years ago, we were invaded by mice. At first I wanted to trap and release them. The first one we managed to catch I carefully took outside and let him go. The neighbors cat had him in 30 seconds flat! After that, we went with poison. Sigh.

[marktwain]

“Polar bears are trying to expand their range.”

---

As Polar bear populations are expanding, this is most likely the correct explanation.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Same thing here with squirrels. A couple years ago, I was totally overrun by them. I first trapped them, drove 5 miles out and dumped them. I finally gave up with that waste and threw the trap, squirrel and all, in a large tank of water. Saved a lot of fuel.

[cowdog77]

That is sooo cool!

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

I will guarantee you, I have every bit as much heart and compassion as any Polar Bear.

You should go meet them or their cousin Grizzly/Brown Bear in Alaska. I’m sure they would love you too.

[PLMerite]

“The last time a polar bear made a similar journey to reach Iceland was in 1993, and that bear was also shot to death.”

You’d think the other bears would have taken the hint when he never called or wrote.

[cynwoody]

He just wanted to do the jobs that Icelanders did not want to do.

We have our wetbacks, and they have theirs.

[cynwoody]

probably a penguin that shot him...

Polar bears are creatures of the Arctic. Penguins inhabit the Antarctic. So, attentive school kids know the illustration is invalid, right? Well, not so fast! The greenies are on the case:

McCain Expresses Support for Antarctic Polar Bear Relocation

From the above link:

Republican presidential nominee John McCain also supports the effort: "This is exactly the kind of creative public-private partnership we ought to be exploring. I support the basic concepts of this program."

The first batch of polar bears will be released on the edge of the Ross Sea near emperor penguin colonies trapped by recent the movement of giant icebergs C16 and B15A. "These penguins would starve to death anyway," said Polar Bear Conservancy staff biologist Jon Heidenberg. "Now they can provide an initial source of food for the polar bears while they acclimate to their new environment."

Antarctica offers more than 5.4 million square miles of glacial habitat and a variety of food sources for the polar bear: emperor, adelie, rockhopper, chinstrap and gentoo penguins; leopard, fur, weddell and elephant seals; and humpback, minke, blue and orca whales.

In partnership with the Polar Bear Conservancy, Iceland's Reykjavik Zoo has been test-feeding samples of various Antarctic species to their polar bears. "They really like the minke and blue whale meat supplied by our government research expeditions," said chief zoo biologist Katrin Jonsdottir.

Because of the distance between release points and Antarctic research stations, scientists working in the Antarctic region do not expect roaming polar bears to interfere with their work.

[beaversmom]

I’m with you.

[Fawn]

Animals are expected to act one way....humans another.

[Leifur]

Actually just a week or two later another bear was found strolling around in Iceland, a child walked upon it, thankfully it ran away as a proper farmers child instead of wanting to stroke it as a greanpeace educated pawement child maybe would have.

Of course we shot him also though some expensive but futile attempt to save it were tried, because of the sentimentality of the first case.

The thing about statistic of these kinds of things, whatever happens, any change whatsoever is taken as a proof of global warming, in whatever direction it goes.

The funny thing is that for weeks after these incidents people starting seeing beers and beer tracks allover the country, like there was an epidemic of big foot and Elvis sightings.

Or maybe our succesful elimination of the first scouting parties gave subsequent scouts the message that a full scale invasion was not feasible at this time ;)