Iceland Welcomes Polar Bear Refugee With Bullets

Hunters track down and kill a marathon polar bear swimmer out of fear that it could threaten curious sightseers in a remote part of Iceland.

Animal rights activists expressed outrage at the killing of an adult polar bear that appears to have managed to swim around 200 miles from Greenland to Iceland before being shot dead by marksmen.

The animal was thought to be the first to reach the North Atlantic island in at least 15 years, and a local police officer claimed it was a danger to humans.

Authorities have been criticized for not keeping the public away from the unique visitor, and for not using a tranquilizer instead of lethal force.

The last sighting of a polar bear around Iceland was in 1993, when sailors spotted a bear swimming off the coast, and shot it.

Iceland has also been under fire for a 2006 decision to resume whaling, which drew a slew of international condemnations.

Geenpeace pointed out after Iceland's whaling fleet returned to port early due to bad weather that more than 170 tons of rotting whale meat were dumped at a remote landfill because "the Icelandic market has not proved to be what whalers epected."

Whaling officials announced late last summer that killing whales would be suspended this year due to an insufficient demand for whale meat.

Video: Islandic Television
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