A man was attacked by a polar bear in Mohnbukta on the east side of Spitsbergen on Tuesday. He managed to escape with minor injuries.
The attack was reported at 9:25 AM on Tuesday. The Governor’s helicopter moved to the place, which is between 8 and 10 miles from Longyearbyen, with a doctor on board.
At 11 o’clock the helicopter returned, and the injured man was transported to the hospital.
There were two people in the entourage, and the polar bear was shot and killed, the Governor reports.
“The man was slightly injured. Like all cases where a polar bear is killed, this will also be investigated,” communications adviser Terje Carlsen told news bureau NTB.
Not a tourist
On Tuesday afternoon, Carlsen could tell that the autopsy of the polar bear was underway.
“We are talking about a six-year-old male bear. It is routine that we have an autopsy of the animal, it is always done,” he added.
The man who was attacked by the polar bear has received treatment and is now up and walking.
Carlsen stated that the injured man lives in Longyearbyen and is not a tourist on Svalbard. The man wasn’t a part of any kind of guided tour.
Lots of polar bear tracks
According to the newspaper Svalbardposten, two men were working for the company Polar X and were on-site to measure the thickness of the ice when the bear attacked them from behind.
“It is clear that this was a bear that had decided to attack. Both men are experienced, resident people. We are talking about pure bad luck. That should not have happened,” Polar X owner Jason Roberts said.
According to Svalbardposten, a lot of polar bears and tracks have been observed in Mohnbukta in recent days.
Polar bears have killed six people on Svalbard since 1971. The last time this happened was in August last year. A polar bear attacked a Dutchman in a tent camp outside Longyearbyen. He later died due to the injuries.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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“Autopsies” are for humans as “necropsies” are for animals.
The only difference between a necropsy and an autopsy is that the word necropsy is more usually applied to animals.