Man Fined for Scaring Polar Bear in Arctic Norway
Local Editor
A Norwegian man, who was caught scaring polar bears on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, has been given a substantial fine for spooking local wildlife.
During a snowmobile expedition in the Norwegian far north earlier this year, a polar bear was spotted standing still, some 900 meters away. Their guide decided to approach the predator to take a closer look, effectively spurring the animal to flee.
This seemingly harmless encounter nevertheless cost the unlucky offender 12,000 NOK [$1,530] due to the exceptionally harsh nature of Svalbard's laws.
"The regulations specifically state that it is forbidden to approach polar bears in such a way that they are disturbed, regardless of the distance," the Svalbard governor's office said in a statement cited by the Norwegian TV channel TV2.
Svalbard, located 1,600 km from the North Pole and twice the size of Belgium, is known to be home to a thousand polar bears, which've enjoyed protected status since 1973.
According to aerial estimates by the Norwegian Polar Institute, there were about 3,000 polar bears in the Barents Sea area. By contrast, Svalbard's main settlement, Longyearbyen, boasts a population of about 2,000 residents, as opposed to 2,600 in the entire archipelago.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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