Polar bear in Lon­gye­ar­by­en

Spits­ber­gen is polar bear coun­try, even more so in recent years as the spe­ci­es has seen a remar­kab­le reco­very sin­ce full pro­tec­tion in 1973 after years of inten­se hun­ting. In recent years, it has beco­me pret­ty nor­mal again to see bears on the west coast of Spits­ber­gen, also clo­se to the sett­le­ments. All of them had polar bears in their vici­ni­ty or even in the sett­le­ment are­as in 2019.

Lon­gye­ar­by­en has now had a Christ­mas polar bear in town on Thurs­day mor­ning. The bear was seen at about half 7 in cen­tral Lon­gye­ar­by­en. It was wal­king in the pede­stri­an area near shops, restau­rants and dwel­ling hou­ses.

Polar bear in cen­tral Lon­gye­ar­by­en, Thurs­day mor­ning near 06.30.
Pho­to © Marie Lørup Sten­shøj.

The Sys­sel­man­nen (poli­ce) was soon on site and used a heli­co­ter to push the bear out of the sett­le­ment to the south, up Lon­gye­ar­breen (Lon­gyear gla­cier), through Fard­a­len and into Coles­da­len to be as cer­tain as pos­si­ble that the­re is no more imme­dia­te dan­ger.

The inci­dent shows that it is important to take the risk of mee­ting polar bears serious­ly. This is true any­whe­re and at any time in Sval­bard, but espe­ci­al­ly during the dark sea­son and in the ear­ly mor­ning hours, when the­re is litt­le traf­fic that would be likely to see a bear near town befo­re you hap­pen to meet it.

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!