Polar bear in Longyearbyen, final act

Posted on 16. October 2014 by Rolf Stange

The polar bear in Longyearbyen (see previous posts) is not in Longyearbyen anymore. Today (Thursday, 16 October) at 12.45 hours, it was sedated and then flown out to a remote part of Svalbard. Before the polar bear actually fell asleep, it still walked for about 3 kilometres from the shore of Adventfjord, where it had been lying for a while, to the old northern light observatory (at the old runway) in Adventdalen. After the usual weighing, measuring and marking, it was flown northwards.

The Sysselmannen wants to get it as far away as possible, preferably to another island rather than the main island Spitsbergen. The exact place will, however, depend on the weather during the flight. The initially northerly direction may, however, point to Nordaustland as a possible new home for the bear. If it becomes similarly faithful to a smaller area there as he did near Longyearben, is something nobody can currently know, probably including the polar bear itself.

A larger number of people used the opportunity to get a glimpse of the bear in a distance of about 540 metres. For some, it was the first time to see a polar bear in the wild.

Approximate position of the polar bear near Longyearbyen when it was sedated (red dot). Image base: Google Earth.

Source: http://svalbardposten.no/index.php?page=vis_nyhet&NyhetID=5128

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!