Polar bears are known to attack when hungry. Photo: longhorndave ![[CC-2.0]](/lib/img/layout/cc-attr.gif)
One Briton has been killed and another four seriously injured by a polar bear while on a schools expedition.
The party of about 80 was attacked by the animal while camping on the Von Postbreen glacier on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Norwegian arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
The bear was shot after the attack early today about 40km (25 miles) from the settlement of Longyearbyen.
The group, all male, was part of a British Schools Exploring Society expedition to the arctic island, the largest in Norway.
The BSES said expedition leaders Michael Reid and Andrew Ruck were injured in the mauling, along with two young men, Patrick Flinders and Scott Smith.
“The young people are all between 16 and 23,” a BSES spokeswoman said.
The badly injured men were flown by helicopter to Longyearbyen and then to Tromsø in northern Norway. The party used a satellite phone to call for help.
A statement from the Norwegian authorities said: “The Governor of Svalbard confirms that one person is deceased after a polar bear attack at Von Postbreen this morning.
“Four other persons are severely injured. The injured and deceased persons belong to a British group. The four injured persons have been brought by helicopter to the hospital in Longyearbyen.
“Ambulance aeroplanes have been required to fly the patients to the hospital in Tromsø.
“The governor received a message around 7.30am this morning about a polar bear attack at Von Postbreen, about 40km from Longyearbyen. The governor and personnel from the hospital flew out by helicopter. The polar bear has been killed.
“Next of kin can call +47 7902 4305 or + 47 7902 4302.”
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said “Our embassy in Oslo is urgently looking into reports of an incident in northern Norway.”
Alex A.
05 August 2011Why the hell they killed the poor animal! Humans intruded the bear's natural habitat, which we by the way destroy with a stubborn persistence. We are almost 7 billion while these poor buggers barely can find food anymore, and their numbers are fading out.
If they were so smart to go camping in that area why not to think ahead, and take precautions. This really makes me sad...
Peter T
05 August 2011Agree with the preceeding comment - but I am very sorry for the relatives and the injured.
The party obviously did not know that these apparently cuddly creatures are as vicious as tigers - trample on their territory and take an obvious risk.
If you go skiing or mountain climbing, the risks are more obvious - but you don't close the piste after an accident - or flatten the mountain after a fall ...
I am sad wild animals are being driven out of their habitat - worse, that this should not be by people who live there or are searching for minerals, but by tourists.
Kate Beaumont
05 August 2011This is so shocking!! I can't believe they shot the bear. This was the bear's territory, they were intruders. Poor bear, they should have left it to it's meal, then the others would not have been hurt. One boy died, but so did an innocent bear, but it was supposed to be there. Once the boy was dead, there was no bringing him back to life, so why shoot the bear?!? Maybe it has hungry babies somewhere? There are millions of boys. There aren't millions of bears. I'm disgusted in man kind.
Colin
06 August 2011Shame, what a bunch of insensitive, ill-formed responses to such a frightening and tragic event.
Life P
06 August 2011I get it. Humans have to stay away from places where animals live, right? That happens exclude quite a bit of this planet.
Sorry about the boy.
JohnO
07 August 2011I'm deeply sorry for the boy's family - they can do without the media attention at this time.
I notice that the same Grough web page that reports this tragedy also includes an advert for a business that will seek compensation for you "if you have been attacked or assaulted"!!!!
Apparently you can"make a successful claim even if an offender is not identified, caught or convicted."!!!!
So just who are the top predators?
Compensation Lawyers - or Polar Bears?
R Webb
08 August 2011Insensitive and thoughtless wildenista witterings again.
Killing a bear in Svalbard brings consequences. You need to explain and justify this action and there are severe penalties if not in self defence.
There was more than one victim and the lives of several other animals (ie the expedition) were saved. So the animal rights nutter response would be just to lie down and be eaten. Or as I suspect, impose huge no go zones on the rest of us - only open to those who are idealogically sound and connected.
Oh - and the bear did not have hungry babies - it was male, young and starving. Had it encountered cute fluffy wee babies - it would have eaten them (If mother had not killed it first).
MrBear
08 August 2011Silly bear, doesn't it know that the worlds extremes are primarily there for gap year rahs to 'conquer' in mass, supported groups so they have something to bleat about at interviews.