Rare Polar Bear 'Knocks' At Woman's House in Iceland, Here's What Happened Next...

Iceland: In a surprising incident, a rare polar bear was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in northwest Iceland, prompting police to take action after deeming the animal a threat. 

The bear was killed on Thursday afternoon when the bear was seen rummaging through garbage near the home of an elderly woman.

Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson stated, “It’s not something we like to do. In this case, the bear was very close to a summer house, and there was an elderly woman inside.” The frightened woman locked herself upstairs as the bear searched for food, and she managed to contact her daughter in Reykjavik for assistance via satellite link. Jensson noted, “Other summer residents had already gone home. She knew the danger.”

Polar bears are not indigenous to Iceland, but they occasionally wash ashore from Greenland on ice floes.

Anna Sveinsdóttir, director of scientific collections at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, mentioned that recent sightings of icebergs off the north coast may have contributed to the bear's unusual presence.

While polar bear attacks on humans are extremely rare, studies suggest that global warming and the diminishing sea ice are pushing more hungry bears onto land, increasing the likelihood of conflicts. A study covering polar bear incidents from 1870 to 2014 documented 73 attacks, leading to 20 fatalities and 63 injuries. Alarmingly, 15 of these attacks occurred in the last five years of that timeframe.

The bear was the first seen in Iceland since 2016, with only about 600 recorded sightings since the ninth century. Although polar bears are protected by law, they can be killed if they pose a threat to humans or livestock.

In 2008, the Icelandic environment minister appointed a task force to address the issue of transient polar bears. The task force concluded that killing vagrant bears was the most effective response due to their potential dangers and the high costs of relocating them to Greenland.

Following the shooting, scientists will study the young bear, which weighed between 150 and 200 kilograms (300 to 400 pounds). They will examine it for parasites and infections and assess its overall health. The bear's pelt and skull may also be preserved for the Icelandic Institute of Natural History’s collection.

A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to survey the area for any additional bears but found none. After the incident, the woman who reported the bear decided to extend her stay in the village, indicating her determination to remain in the area despite the unusual encounter.