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.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    2 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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      2 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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        2 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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        2 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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          2 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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              2 months ago

              And? You think it’s just going to keep going to the next town like some kind of horror movie monster?

              • Dasus@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Would it be possible or perhaps even likely for the bear to roam a few dozen kilometers to the next town?

                https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/wildlife/polar-bears

                Polar bears range across the Arctic Ocean, in parts of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Greenland and Norway (Svalbard). They can walk on ice or swim long distances to find food or breed – sometimes roaming across vast areas up to 600,000 sq km.

                https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland

                The main island covers 101,826 km2 (39,315 sq mi), but the entire country is 103,000 km2

                What do you think?

                • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Sure but you were talking like they were going to follow the humans around the island eating them one by one.

                  • Dasus@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    And you’re talking as if they’re gonna have the territory of a housecat.