Iceland review - 2016, Page 74

72 ICELAND REVIEW
FROSTY
WELCOME
Since 2008, five polar bears have
made the roughly 300-km (186-
mile) journey from Greenland
to Iceland, at least part of the distance
on floating ice. Each was shot and
killed because of a threat to humans or
livestock. The latest bear came ashore
close to an inhabited area, in mid-July.
The animal, which was later found to
be a lactating female, was spotted by
farmers north of the town Blönduós,
Skagi peninsula in Northwest Iceland.
They quickly brought their children
into the farmhouse and called a friend
who is a skilled shooter. They notified
police, who in turn warned other farm-
ers in the area. The farmers’ friend
reportedly killed the bear with one
shot from a 130-meter (425-foot) dis-
tance. The killing, and images pub-
lished of the people on the scene with
the bloodied animal, reignited debate
about Iceland’s response to polar bear
arrivals. Icelandic animal rights law-
yer Árni Stefán Árnason commented
that the shooting demonstrated a lack
of understanding of animal protection
issues and a lack of respect for animal
lives.
In mid-July a polar bear was shot and killed after arriving on Iceland’s shores
from Greenland, reigniting heated debate about Iceland’s response to polar
bears. Kristín Linda Árnadóttir, general director of the Environment Agency
of Iceland and head of the response group on polar bear sightings in Iceland,
speaks to Zoë Robert about the issue.
PHOTO THIS SPREAD BY RAX. PORTRAIT BY GEIR ÓLAFSSON.
Here, Kristín Linda Árnadóttir, general
director of the Environment Agency of
Iceland and head of the response group
on polar bear sightings in Iceland, dis-
cusses the issue and explains the chal-
lenges which come with capturing a live
polar bear.
On average, how often do polar bears
make the journey to Iceland?
There’s been on average one every two
to three years. We have records which
suggest that there have been around
500 known polar bear arrivals in Iceland
since the settlement [874 AD]. The year
with the most arrivals was 1881—the
year of the ‘giant ice winter’—when 71
were spotted after making their way to
Iceland on sea ice. In recent times, they
had not been seen in a very long time—
20 years—when two arrived in 2008.
What effect will climate change and
the melting of the Arctic have on the
frequency of polar bear arrivals in
Iceland?
It is thought that they come here because
the ice is drifting here or because they
have been pushed from their natural
habitat and have managed to swim a very
long way. The danger that the melting
of the ice presents is that their natural
habitat will shrink, but this doesn’t nec-
essarily mean that the number of polar
bears will increase in Iceland.
A draft procedure on how to capture
polar bears alive was started several
years ago but it was not finished and
has not been fully funded. Are there
any plans to finish it?
It is in the very final stages but what we
really need is to know if the Greenlanders
want to take the captured polar bears
back. We also want to elaborate on
the plan to capture them, the technical
details about the cage and housing.
What happens once a polar bear is
spotted in Iceland?
The announcement is sent to the rele-
vant police. The police always have the
responsibility of evaluating the safety of