Polar Bear Shot In the Arctic

Last week a read a really sad story about a polar bear that was shot and killed off the coast of Svalbard by a guard accompanying the MS Bremen which is part of the German Hapag Lloyd fleet.  The bear apparently attacked one of the guards and injured them and was then shot in self defence by another guard. Apparently the injured guard will make a full recovery.

I am in two minds about this.  Of course I am happy that the guard will be ok in the end, but who said that the guards life was worth more than the bears?

The cruise ship was in the polar bear’s territory and was only acting within its natural instincts to hunt and kill prey.  Which to be honest, in the Arctic is anything that moves.

With polar bears under serious threat from climate change and their numbers ever decreasing, we have an ever greater responsibility to these creatures and to look after them.

I obviously wasn’t on this sailing so can’t say exactly how this all happened, but surely the area should have been checked before anyone went onto land and if any bears were nearby no one should have left the ship.  I know polar bears are obviously extremely good at camouflage but could they not have flew a drone over the area to pick up any heat from the bears to detect them?

We as humans need to remember that whenever we go somewhere like this, that we are guests in this habitat and we need to learn to respect this.  In the Arctic, the polar bear is king and if we don’t like his rules then it may not be the place for you.

Did you hear about this story? What are your thoughts?  Let me know in the comments below.