A man has been killed by a polar bear on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, local authorities announced on Friday, the sixth such fatal attack in nearly 50 years on the Arctic archipelago.
The incident happened overnight at a campsite near Longyearbyen, the capital of this territory, about 1,300 km from the North Pole.
Seriously injured, the man, who has not been identified, died soon after, the local governor's services said in a statement. Others at the scene shot the bear, which was later found dead in the parking lot of the local airport. In Svalbard (or Spitsbergen), carrying a rifle is recommended when leaving urban centers.
Sixth fatal attack on the archipelago since 1971
According to a 2015 count, the archipelago is home to a thousand polar bears, a species protected since 1973. Five fatal attacks on humans had been recorded there so far since 1971.
The last fatal attack was in 2011, when a bear attacked a group of 14 people who were camping as part of a trip organized by the Society of British Exploration Schools. A 17-year-old Briton was killed, and four members of the expedition wounded before the animal was shot.
According to experts, the receding sea ice deprives bears of their favorite hunting ground, where they force-feed on seals, and pushes them to approach places populated by humans, in search of food.
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