Press "Enter" to skip to content

ALERT -– POLAR BEAR AT HOTELLNESSET: Governor sends helicopter to chase bear away from area near horse farm, warns people to stay away

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 16 Second

A polar bear seen near the horse farm at Hotellnesset on Thursday evening prompted The Governor of Svalbard to send a helicopter and other personnel to the area to chase it away and warn people to avoid the area.

The initial warning issued was at 5:45 p.m. and Terje Carlsen, a spokesman for the governor, told Svalbardposten at about 7 p.m. the bear was located quickly and by 6:15 p.m. was near Hiorthamn being chased toward Revneset (video by governor at NRK’s website), with the goal of pushing it far from settled areas.

Several residents posted reports of being warned while trying to enter areas near where the bear was sighted and of seeing the helicopter engaged in the pursuit, but no close encounters were immediately reported. Two dogsled tours encountered a bear several kilometers east of Longyearbyen during the past two weeks, including one that came within a few meters of a group before a guide scared it off by hitting it with the brake rope on the front of his sled.

Thursday’s incident is the latest of numerous sightings of polar bears near town during the past month, including one controversially shot on New Year’s Day. The governor’s office has stated personnel to sedate bears are again available after the holidays, which wasn’t the case with the bear killed because of its multiple returns to town that couldn’t be properly monitored in the 24-hour dark.

This story will be updated with details as they become available.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%