Iceland: Police shoot 1st polar bear sighted in years – DW – 09/20/2024
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Police have shot and killed a polar bear that came ashore in northwestern Iceland, the first sighting of a polar bear there since 2016. It might have hitched a ride from Greenland on a floating iceberg.

Police have shot and killed a polar bear that came ashore in northwestern Iceland, the first sighting of a polar bear there since 2016. It might have hitched a ride from Greenland on a floating iceberg.

  • troed@fedia.io
    1·
    2 days ago

    You’re absolutely correct. Since we stopped allowing hunting* the number of polar bears has grown consistently.

    Historically, overhunting was the polar bears’ greatest threat. From the 1800s up through the 1960s, commercial and later sport hunters greatly reduced polar bear numbers. Populations rebounded in most places after the five polar bear nations signed the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. The Agreement halted commercial hunting and significantly curtailed sport hunting.

    https://polarbearsinternational.org/news-media/articles/why-is-polar-bear-hunting-allowed

    *) with caveats, as the article is really about