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.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    2 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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        2 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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          2 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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              2 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.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                How do the Scandinavians do recess? Surely they do and they don’t have a magic no polar bear fence. These are solved problems.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    Obviously there’s more to it than that. The literal government website you linked requires non lethal means to be carried.

    • Krzd@lemmy.world
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      2 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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        2 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.

        • Maalus@lemmy.world
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          2 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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            2 months ago

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

        • Krzd@lemmy.world
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          2 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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            2 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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              2 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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              2 months ago

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