Police have shot and killed a polar bear that came ashore in northwestern Iceland, the first sighting of a polar bear there since 2016. It might have hitched a ride from Greenland on a floating iceberg.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Here in the states, we shot a gorilla once.

    It, uh, . . . It didn’t go very well for a long time after that.

    Personally I’d recommend some other approach. But that’s just me.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I think there’s a slight difference in a captive gorilla and wild polar bear.

      I mean (unrelated but still) I think a polar bear could 1v1 a gorilla. Meaning I think a polar bear is more dangerous. Especially a hungry one, that’s able to just walk into a population center.

      I too wish they could’ve saved the bear, but I don’t think people are gonna complain about this as much as with Harambe (RIP)

      Like even if anaesthesia was an option, they’d still have had to give it a ride back, or build it a home. And building zoos just isn’t too popular nowadays imo.

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    This is going to be increasing in the coming years. The ice is melting, and they will be forced onto land to look for food.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    That’s a lot of justification for killing something that can go fishing for food.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      3 months ago

      Except that’s not how Polar Bears prefer to hunt. They prefer to hunt by holes over pack ice, where they wait for animals like seals to surface for air. When there’s no pack ice, which is what is happening thanks to global warming, they hunt for whatever they can on land. And if that land is inhabited by humans, that means humans.

      I would say the potential to kill and eat humans, including infants, is excellent justification.

      Does it suck that this is our fault to begin with? Absolutely. That doesn’t mean that human lives should be put at risk as well.

      • Floodedwomb@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        So tranquilizers and trailers don’t exist in Iceland? They couldn’t just send it back to Greenland?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          3 months ago

          So no map? You said it wasn’t an immediate threat. Where’s your evidence?

          Also, why are you assuming it came from Greenland and why are you assuming that it would survive just being dropped off in some random place in the humongous island of Greenland anyway?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              The article that says relocating it to Greenland was a non-starter?

              The article that says this?

              Greenland is an autonomous territory but also part of Denmark — refusing permission either on the grounds of concerns about disease, or because of the local population not being keen on a larger polar bear population on its glacier.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Yes that part and the part about the bear being in the trash outside. Not an immediate threat.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Humans have lived in polar bear territory for centuries though. So we know it’s possible. Shooting endangered animals on sight because you don’t want to learn how to co-habitate a region is just peak shitty human.

        And they’re bears they can absolutely find other sources of food without killing humans.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            That says you’re supposed to scare them off first. Shooting them is a last resort. Not the first resort. In Iceland they made it the first resort by law. That’s the issue.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              Got it. As long as the children have a way of scaring off the hungry polar bear when it gets to the school playground, no worries.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                  3 months ago

                  I see, so post multiple guards around any place children might be just in case the rare polar bear makes landfall on Iceland so it can get scared away instead of mauling children.

                  Very reasonable.

        • Krzd@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          How the fuck do you imagine “co-habitating” with polar bears??? That’s like starving a wolf and telling it to “co-habitate” with a baby.
          Yes, it sucks that we have forced polar bears out of their natural habit and that they now have to hunt humans for food, however if something starts hunting humans for food it’s just gonna get killed.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Nobody in the article said it was hunting humans. That’s pure exaggeration and fever dream shit from the comments section. This entire fucking comments section just assumes polar bears prefer to hunt humans.

            • Krzd@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              It’s not just an assumption. Polar bears will hunt humans. They’re the absolute apex predator in their habitat so why shouldn’t they just hunt everything that moves?

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Because most animals, including polar bears, have learned to be wary of groups of humans. And nobody is saying they won’t hunt humans. But the article doesn’t support that this one was. The comment section is acting like they’re obligated to hunt humans.

                • Maalus@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  Polar bears are absolutely not wary of humans. You keep talking about the topic as if you don’t really know anything about them.

                • Krzd@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  Lol, polar bears do not avoid humans, that’s like running away from food

            • Maalus@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              They do kill and hunt humans. It’s a fact, not an assumption. It was a threat to people, going closer to inhabited areas. What were they supposed to do, check if this one is a vegan?

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Nobody said it doesn’t happen. But the article doesn’t support that it was happening there.

      • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        I wouldn’t say it’s sufficient justification, to be honest. I guess it depends on the population to some degree. But since we caused this problem, I would say moving even a whole village out of polar bear habitat is worth the cost of shooting even one, and we can suppose there will be more to come. I think we have a responsibility to get the hell out of their space, even at a huge cost to us.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          3 months ago

          Sorry… you think an entire village needs to be moved when a polar bear is seen in Iceland? How would that even work?

          • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            What do you mean how would that work? Polar bear habitat is declared national park, inhabitants get assistance moving elsewhere. Extremely expensive? Yes. Complicated? Not really.

            I get that people aren’t gonna go for this, but I stand by the position that it would be the ethically correct thing, and we should be honest with ourselves that we are compromising on that.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              Did you even read the headline of this article? This is the first polar bear seen in Iceland since 2016. They swim.

              Where exactly is this habitat supposed to be? The entire coast?

            • Dasus@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              There are still literally tens of thousands of polar bears.

              As a global population for a species, that’s low.

              But as something that would mean relocating entire towns full of people — when towns are usually doing something important production wise and can’t just be moved willy nilly — that’s a whole lot.

              “Move an entire town”

              Then half a year later when the bear moves to another town, do it again. And again. And again.

              Seriously? Do you know the size of the town compared to the national population in Iceland?

              That’s just a logistical nightmare which wouldn’t even accomplish any of the virtues you’re signaling so hard.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                The polar bears aren’t following the people. It can absolutely hunt (and would prefer) a coastline.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Villages live in polar bear territory in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia just fine. So Iceland has to learn some new rules. It’s no reason to contribute to the extinction of a species.

    • acosmichippo@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      but can they actually go fishing for food? If a wild animal is wandering into human territory, there is usually a resource-limiting reason for it.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        According to Iceland the entire island is human territory. I’m going to press F to doubt.

        And they very much can. This was a rural home, not some suburb. But even that wouldn’t be the first time in the North.