Authorities say a rare polar bear spotted in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat.
  • TerribleTortoise@lemmy.world
    331·
    2 months ago

    We can all agree that it’s a tragedy that this animal died.

    The other consideration is that polar bears are amongst the most relentless and vicious predators around. A polar bear around an inhabited area is very much a serious safety threat. Iceland doesn’t have any animal predators and therefore also wouldn’t have the trained people or equipment necessary to deal with neutralizing and relocating this bear.

    I would have liked to have seen the animal safely moved. But I suspect there’s more context to this story that we don’t have beyond the headline.

    • astropenguin5@lemmy.world
      10·
      2 months ago

      A bit more context from reading the article

      • the bear was actively going through the trash of a woman’s summer house while she was there which is why it was reported

      • the Iceland environmental agency actively decided to not try and relocate it, likely due to how expensive it would be to take back to Greenland

      • the bear is also being studied for potential diseases/parasites, how healthy it was, body fat, etc. which is nice I guess

  • Vampire [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    106·
    2 months ago

    No dogs around, so these intrepid cops adapted to the situation and got the job done using what was available

    • BrikoX@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      131·
      2 months ago

      The bear was killed Thursday afternoon in the northwest of Iceland after police consulted the Environment Agency, which declined to have the animal relocated, Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson told The Associated Press.

      Environment Agency is to blame here, not the cops.

      • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        4·
        2 months ago

        Environment agency is just another type of cop. Not that policing environmental regulations is necessarily bad but they are still literally cops dude.

        • BrikoX@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
          4·
          2 months ago

          If they were park rangers, sure, but a random career government bureaucrat has no enforcement authority here.

  • ravhall
    919·
    2 months ago

    In this case, as you can see in the picture, the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman in there.

    Oh no! A women in a protected environment might be anxious?! SHOOT IT!!!

    seriously, Iceland, I think we all expected more out of you.

    • Nora@lemmy.ml
      151·
      2 months ago

      You think a regular door will hold back a hungry polar bear?

      • ravhall
        16·
        2 months ago

        I do not know the quality of door this woman has.

        • koper@feddit.nlEnglish
          31·
          2 months ago

          Then maybe you should defer judgment unless you know the facts. Polar bears are incredibly strong and will hunt and eat prey much larger than humans.

          • ravhall
            23·
            2 months ago

            It’s not the polar bears fault.