The sad shooting of a mother polar bear and her first year cub has been the matter of the last news posting on this website. A trapper wanted to scare the polar bear away with a rubber bullet, but by mistake he took a sharp cartridge and fired a lethal shot at the bear. The cub was later on the same day shot by the police, as it did not have a chance for survival on its own in the arctic wilderness.
Now the authorities in Longyearbyen have decided that the case will not be negotiated locally within the institution of the Sysselmannen, which would be the normal procedure. Instead, the case will be forwarded to the public prosecutor in Tromsø. It was said that this is because of the large public interest in the case. Additionally, the trappers are using a hut owned by the Sysselmannen. It may be that the Sysselmannen wants to prevent any criticism of being prejudiced at an early stage.
The hut at Austfjordneset in Wijdefjord was originally built privately as a trappers hut but has now been state property for a number of years. Out of the many huts owned by the Sysselmannen, this is the only one which is lent to private persons who want to live there for a year as trappers. The purpose is to keep the tradition alive. It is a condition that the trappers have to hunt actively, which does of course not include polar bears. These are strictly protected. Species that are hunted include mainly reindeer, polar fox, ptarmigan and seals.
Polar bear family at Nordenskiöldbreen (archive image from september 2012).
A female polar bear and her first year cub were shot at Austfjordneset (inner Wijdefjord) in Spitsbergen on June 13 (during the season, news are updated with delays. The focus is currently on the travel blog). Two persons are currently living at Austfjordneset to winter there as trappers.
The bear had been in the vicinity of the hut for a while, probably because of nests of Common eiders in that area. It is common that polar bears eat eggs and chicks of tundra breeders during the breeding season. It is, however, uncommon that a mother bear with a cub comes close to human presence.
One of the two inhabitants of the hut was inside, the other one was on the roof to scare the bear away with warning shots. While doing so, it came to a fatal mistake: rather than with a rubber bullet as intended to scare the female polar bear away without injury, the shooter loaded his gun with sharp shot. This proved to be lethal on a distance of 8.5 metres.
On advice by a polar bear specialist of the Norwegian Polar Institute, the police shot the cub on location the same day. The cub, being about 6 months old, did not have a chance for survival on its own.
As all cases of polar bears killed, the incident is now matter of legal investigation at the Sysselmannen’s office in Longyearbyen. Polar bears are completely protected in Spitsbergen. Only in cases of self defence, a kill is exempt from punishment.
The two trappers, Norwegians 28 and 29 years old who had studied at UNIS and worked as guides in Longyearbyen, returned to Austfjordneset after police questioning in Longyearbyen.
Happy little polar bear family in Kongfjord. The mother is chewing on remains of a dead walrus, while her first year cub is playing with a piece of driftwood. Normally, female polar bears with offspring stay away from human presence. Unfortunately, there are exceptions to this rule.