Polar bear dead after anaes­the­ti­sa­ti­on by sci­en­tists (II)

In Sep­tem­ber, a polar bear was found dead on Edgeøya after having been anaes­the­ti­sa­ted two days ear­lier by sci­en­tists from the Nor­we­gi­an Polar Insti­tu­te. The bear had suf­fo­ca­ted, most likely after having chan­ged its posi­ti­on while still under influence of the anes­the­tics from a safe side­ways posi­ti­on (see spitsbergen-svalbard.com news from Sep­tem­ber). Anaes­the­ti­sa­ted polar bears are not fur­ther moni­to­red after sci­en­ti­fic inves­ti­ga­ti­ons are finis­hed, so the­re is always a latent risk of suf­fo­ca­ti­on or pre­da­ti­on by other bears.

The case of the dead polar bear from Edgeøya in Sep­tem­ber is now clo­sed by the Sys­sel­man­nen as a legal­ly not rele­vant inci­dent.

The sci­en­ti­fic work on polar bears which invol­ves fol­lo­wing them with heli­c­op­ters and anaes­the­ti­sa­ti­on is car­ri­ed out in Spits­ber­gen on a lar­ge sca­le, as it enjoys poli­ti­cal sup­port from the Nor­we­gi­an govern­ment. Most bears obser­ved in Spits­ber­gen by tou­rists by now car­ry visi­ble signs of such sci­en­ti­fic work, inclu­ding col­lars with sat­teli­te tra­ckers, ear marks, num­bers or chan­ged beha­viour (such bears may at least tem­po­r­a­ri­ly react visi­bly more ner­vous and afraid on human pre­sence, see spitsbergen-svalbard.com news from Octo­ber 2012). Both ext­ent and methods of this rese­arch are regu­lar­ly met with cri­ti­zism.

Source: Sys­sel­man­nen

Do you agree that spitsbergen-svalbard.com is a gre­at re­source for any arc­tic enthu­si­ast?

Ever­y­thing is available for free, no pay­wall, no regis­tra­ti­on, no paid adver­ti­sing, and all this in spi­te of con­stant cos­ts and effort. Plea­se help us to keep it that way, wit­hout pay­wall and paid ads, and sup­port us through Ste­ady!