As unfortunate as this is, afaik, polar bears are one of the most aggressive animals around, intent on eating pretty much anything that moves. I don’t doubt that it did pose a threat.
Polar bears actually stalk humans, so they’re super dangerous.
It’s too bad that big oil has fucked up the earth so bad we have to kill them, just because they floated across the Atlantic and landed on a foreign shore…
There are only two species that are still predators of humans and will actively hunt us: polar bears and bangal tigers.
Removed by mod
Or, you know, just the ones that are actively posing a threat. Like in all such animal situations.
This one was not actively posing a threat.
So it has to actually be bearing down on a group of people before it needs to be euthanized? Really?
There was no hurry. It could have been captured and released back in Greenland, but Iceland won’t do that because of the cost, so they just kill it. How much would you be willing to contribute to prevent a polar bear from being killed?
No hurry? The woman in the cabin that spotted the bear was just a wooden door or a glass window away from the animal.
Also, Greenland doesn’t want them back, they even shoot the bears on sight if they are too close to human settlements. They do however have a quota and each bear that is killed in Iceland contributes to this quota.
There was no hurry.
How do you know? Please show me a map of where it was found in relation to places where people live.
It could have been captured and released back in Greenland
How do you know this was actually doable? Why do you think the polar bear would survive being dropped off in a random place?
but Iceland won’t do that because of the cost
And they should be forced to bear a cost burden they can’t afford?
How do you know?
The articles I have read only say that the woman saw it outside her house. There was no indication that it had attempted anything other than rummage through garbage. And the police had to travel about 30 km by boat to get there, so the response time couldn’t have been quick
Please show me a map of where it was found in relation to places where people live.
Well, another article says it was in Höfðaströnd There are only a few buildings there and spread far apart, so the only relevant person is the one woman.
How do you know this was actually doable?
They attempted it before so they thought it was doable. There was a commission to decide how to handle polar bears in the future and all they said was that it cost too much.
And they should be forced to bear a cost burden they can’t afford?
It didn’t say that they couldn’t afford it, just that they wouldn’t pay for it. (You keep rephrasing things in a way that was not intended to try to make your position stronger. That’s called a strawman argument. You should stop that.) And they seem to be getting a lot of complaints from Icelanders that are upset that they killed the bear, so it probably wouldn’t be forced, but something that many Icelanders would be willing to pay.
So what about humans posing a threat to them? If it’s so rare to have them show up in Iceland, what drove a polar bear to do this? From what I understand, with less ice at the poles it has made it harder for polar bears to hunt seals, leaving many of them starving. As we head towards winter, polar bears have to put on fat stores to survive and feed newborn cubs. It’s really a shame that so many people talk about “animals” as if we aren’t animals too. By your logic, there would be nothing wrong with polar bears rolling into town and eating the species threatening their survival.
I agree. We should just shoot all fossil fuel company CEOs until they appoint one that agrees to stop polluting the earth so that polar bears have more space to live in 👍🏻
Just feed them to the polar bears.
By your logic, there would be nothing wrong with polar bears rolling into town and eating the species threatening their survival.
How on Earth is that my logic?
If a specific animal poses a direct threat to humans pretty much anywhere on the planet, that animal is killed. That’s just how things work. I’m sorry polar bears are getting desperate for food due to our causing climate change, but that doesn’t mean we should put people’s lives at risk too.
The difference between the two of us is that you think humans are more important than other animals and I don’t. If this polar bear killed a few humans in Iceland, I’m not saying those particular humans would deserve it, but we as a species do. This polar bear didn’t do anything wrong. It has no capacity to, it was just trying to survive. Maybe instead of destroying anything that may potentially be a threat to humans, we should protect the planet we live on and the habitats of our fellow plants and animals. It’s in our own best interests too. No sense arguing about it though, I doubt either of us will change our minds.
You would not care if a polar bear mauled a playground full of toddlers. Noted.
Good luck getting pretty much anyone who has any say in these matters to agree with you on that.
I never said I didn’t care.
Most murders are committed by people. I say we reduce the number of people, perhaps through allowing them to destroy the environment so that they cannot survive. This will make the world safer in the long run, and it will also teach humans that their actions have consequences.
As a side effect, polar bears will also die, so everyone will be happy (and dead)!
Since my comment was removed for trolling (I wasn’t trolling, it was just sarcasm), I will rephrase it. If we accept the premises that any polar bear that is a threat should be killed and every polar bear is inherently a threat, then the conclusion is that every polar bear should be killed. I reject the first premise and conclusion.
There’s a few things going on here.
I think this particular polar bear is “rare” simply because it happens to have come ashore in Iceland, which doesn’t often happen. It’s species is merely “threatened”.
Also, this isn’t wanton wholesale slaughter. This particular animal was a threat to humans and after considering the options euthanisation was determined to be the least bad. As humans, we’ve observed this practice literally since the dawn of time. We regularly euthanise sharks which have attacked humans, we regularly cull “pests” including large cute ones like Kangaroos, and smaller cute ones like foxes and rabbits.
Encroachment of humans on the habitat’s of threatened species is certainly a problem, and one which needs to be carefully managed, but this is not that.
From the article for those not wanting to read it: "Police realized the polar bear was a threat after viewing a documentary, which informed the officers that polar bears are indeed black under their white fur. One officer is quoted as saying ‘I feel betrayed and hurt.’
Exemplary cop behavior, no notes
Of 73 documented attacks by polar bears from 1870 to 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States — which killed 20 people and injured 63 — 15 occurred in the final five years of that period.
The bear shot on Thursday was the first one seen in the country since 2016. Sightings are relatively rare, with only 600 recorded in Iceland since the ninth century.
I mean yeah its a polar bear. its a threat
Shame there isn’t some kind of polar bear rescue that can swoop in in instances like this.
It’s not like he attacked anyone, he was just a bear doing bear things like rooting through garbage.
One article I read stated that it would be very expensive. Meanwhile the bear would starve in Iceland and the population where it came from is stable. This option they choose is unfortunately the best
Yeah, I get the necessity, I just wish there had been a better option. :(
It’s a cold world.
