I agree with everyone here. There is something deeply disturbing about this. Priestess_of_Isis said it best:

His habitat melting away beneath his feet and he swims 200 MILES to try and save himself…and they shoot him on sight. And then pose for a hunting photo.

This is enough to drive a person mad!

And they couldn't use tranquilizer darts?

Must have been a hunting expedition for Blackwater mercenaries. "Look Pa, I shot me a bar"

sickening

How hideous.

His habitat melting away beneath his feet and he swims 200 MILES to try and save himself...and they shoot him on sight. And then pose for a hunting photo. Oh you brave macho men! Not.

I don't know why this upsets me so much-- when there are so many, many MANY bad things happening in the world.

But it does.

You know, I'd never thought of myself as an "animal lover"-- I don't have any pets, I don't go out of the way to watch nature documentaries, etc.

But I think the ultra-violence precipitated this century by our corrupt and malign government has peeled me like a banana, and made me more sensitive to the abominable killer instinct that is the rule in manunkind.

This story reminds me of something similar last year in my hunter's paradise state of Pennsylvania. It involved a deer who'd crashed into a small rural variety store and was running around inside. The story seemed encouraging, because animal control officers DID use tranquilizer darts to subdue the deer, who was then removed from the store uninjured.

The story ended on an appalling note which was presented as almost a throwaway comment: after being freed from the store, the deer was EUTHANIZED. Why? Because the authorities were concerned that the deer had those tranquilizers in its system that MIGHT BE TOXIC TO HUMANS IF THE DEER WAS KILLED BY A HUNTER AND CONSUMED!

It still pisses me off royally to think about it. Besides the delicious irony of a hunter dying from a toxic kill-- turnabout is fair play, eh?-- it just seemed so obviously wrong and unnecessary to kill that damn deer after all that it had been through. Couldn't they just have spray-painted the poor critter with blaze-orange messages reading Do Not Eat?

No-- only death will do.

Since then, I've noticed that many animal "rescue" stories end this way. There's always some expedient reason to justify destroying the animal. It's a wrong-hearted and cruel standard, although rationalized by the handy Old Testament conceit that Man has Dominion over beasts.

Great stewardship, guys!

FUCKING HUMANS!!!

Horrible, ugly and stupid. All I can say is, at least they weren't Americans.

I just canceled a vacation trip to Iceland!

Too bad bears can't shoot

One day the parasite, man, will be eradicated from the face of the earth, not because he evolved, and discovered another dimension to advance too, no, he'll go because he is shitting in his own nest, putting assholes in charge, and killing off anything that remotely looks threatening.

Example A - on display here in this article

Idiots! Makes me ashamed to be human and wish there was some "species-change" operation I could undergo...

Cowards with guns.

Shouldn't they be arrested for killing an endangered species?

Amen Surrender! First we destroy there home, then they go elsewhere to find food which happens to be in our back yard then we kill them and blame them for being there.

Can anyone infiltrate this into the Mainstream Corporate Media?

I'm very sad. That animal did not deserve this and I believe that the "Humans" involved will be dealt with in the after life, no matter what their contrition is.

in response to: Shouldn't they be arrested for killing an endangered species?

Oh ya, that idiot president of ours doesn't think the polar bear deserves to be an endangered species because it will interfere with his oil drilling plan in Alaska. How about them apples!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, maybe the reason it upsets you even though there are so many bad things happening in the world is that it is emblematic of all those bad things -- of humans acting stupidly and without humanity simply because they can

SHOUTING..DEAL WITH IT..
1ST...TO THE EBAR...I AM SORRY FRIEND..I TRULY AM..I AM SORRY THAT MY SPECIES IS SO STUPID AND DESTRUCTIVE..I AM SORRY THAT MY SPECIES I GOING TO KILL US ALL..I AM SORRY FRIEND..I TRULY AM..
2ND..THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS!..GODDAMN FUCKING SWINE! IT IS TIME..FOR HUMAN HUNTING! WHICH ANIMAL IS THE MOST VICIOUS AND PLENTIFUL ON PLANET EARTH? WICH ANIMAL IS THE MOST CUNNING AND AGGRESSIVE ON EARTH?
I HAVE A DREAM...AN "AGENCY" THAT BRINGS VOLUNTEERS INTO THE AREAS WHERE HUNTING AND KILLING ENDANGERED SPECIES IS "ALLOWED"...THESE VOLUNTEERS WOULD BE GIVEN TRAINING AND THE PROPER EQUIPMENT..TO HUNT....THE "HUNTERS"...
THESE 'HUNTS" WOULD INCLUDE: "HUNTING MOUNTAIN LION HUNTERS IN CALIFORNIA."..OR "HUNTING TIGER HUNTERS IN INDIA." OR "ENJOY A WEEK OF HUNTING GRIZZLY BEAR HUNTERS IN ALASKA..BRING YOUR KIDS..GOOD FR THE PLANET..GOD FOR THE COMMUNITY..ESPECIALLY THE COMMUNITY WHERE THE BEAR HUNTER LIVES...FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD KILL A BEAR FOR SPORT..IS A MAGGOT..AND DESERVES TO BE STEPPED ON.."
WE WOULD PROVIDE HELICOPTER SERVICE, FORENSIC MASKING, ALIBIES..IF NEEDED..ETC..ETC..ETC..AS WELL AS A LIFELONG 'COUNCILING SERVICE IN THE...OFF CHANCE THAT A "SPORT HUNTER-HUNTER SHOULD EVER HAVE EVEN THE REMOTEST GUIKLT ABOUT RIDDING THE PLANET OF A SCUMBAG.."
I AM SERIOUS...PT THAT IN MY FILE YOU ASSHOLES..
SEE YOU IN THE TRENCHES..MAYBE

Peaceful iceland.
The deer story was really obnoxious.

And it rarely gets reported that hunters not only shoot each other frequently, but bystanders.
A man shot in a pizza parlor.

Out walking their dogs.
Standing on their porch(white mittens mistook for a deer).
A hunter in France shot the last wild bear in some park. Nothing happens to these assholes.

This will be the metaphor for all life on this planet.

It's time to fight for the right to arm bears.

The Alaska Inuit said that when they caught a whale this year for subsistence, it was the first time a whale did not freeze after they got it to the beach. They said it was the first time in history that the weather was too warm for it to freeze.

And do these assholes who are so proud of themselves need to pose besides the bear like they're some big heroes? Disgusting....

I'm sure they could have used a bear trap that could have contained the bear and shipped him to a more remote location where he could have survived and not been a threat to humans. But no, they have to kill to feel good e.g. like Blackwater goons.

They probably burn ants with magnifying glasses and pull the wings off butterflies in their spare time.

To be shot after a 200 mile swim - that's like getting lost in a strange airport and being tasered to death.

yeah, kelmer, a teenager had her horse shot WHILE she was riding it.

An acquaintance did 2 tours in Vietnam without a scratch, but was shot on his own porch.

They have also shot tractors.

My dogs found a deer who had been gutted and skinned on my own property. That just pissed me off.

As long as we continue to give guns and authority to basically order following stupid guys/gals that lack the conscience to think for themselves you will continue to see scenes like this played out day after day...IT'S A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM...will they reveal the name of the perpetrator cop that did the deadly deed so we can at the very least immortalize him...give him his 15 minutes of fame and expose him or her for such a moronic deed

Are those men with the rifles sitting next to the dead bear smiling?

This photo makes me ill.

time for a letter writing campaign to iceland...damn ijits!!!

Its time to start enforcing the consitutional right to arm bears.

Stupid is what stupid does. The US attacks Iraq and destroys it, just in case it might do us harm, and Icelandic police kill a polar bear trying to survive just in case it might harm someone. The world is controlled and run by madmen.

Does anyone know a local radio discjockey who can get this story out? Does anyone know a local journalist who can run this story in the newspaper? I remember a few years ago when an irate driver reached into a woman's car and tossed her dog into oncoming traffic. The story hit the radio airwaves and a bounty was put out for the road-raged lunatic. Within a half-hour the story was all over the West Coast. Obviously Iceland is a little far away, nonetheless, if word got out among the public...

If someone can tell me how to put this story on Facebook, I will do it. I do not have YouTube or MySpace, but if someone else does, send it to your friends and tell them to send it to their friends...

I can't watch the video clip of the shooting, it will hurt too much. This is so sad, and such a commentary on human idiocy.

I left a message with the Media Department at GreenPeace. Hopefully they will take a look at the article and ensure it gets circulated. Can anyone else contact another global organization and get the article to them?

I don't know if it's the same white-mittens story as noted above, but I also recall a story on TV about some elderly hunter who capped a woman wearing white gloves in her yard.

This was a small town in New England, IIRC, and the killer was a solid citizen who was well-liked in the town.

It sticks in my mind because the townspeople interviewed about this incident were mostly pissed off at the WOMAN for being dumb and careless enough to wear white gloves within rifle shot of the woods during hunting season. I believe that they were still trying to decide whether to even charge the hunter with a crime.

If it was up to the townsfolk-- at least, the ones televised-- they'd have preferred to charge the deceased woman with criminal mischief.

Good news. GreenPeace now has the story and will send it to all stations for public print and circulation. The ground-swell is beginning. I plan to follow up with them on the story.

The picture tells the whole story.

Another trophy killing. Sometimes cops pose with the dead humans that they also 'hunt' down.

At least this polar bear isn't going to face extinction.

life is beautiful

Little Brother, you would enjoy the movie "Affliction".

Friday, June 6 2008
POLAR BEAR KILLS CHILD IN ICELAND

Reuters - Karin Bjornsdottir, the eleven-year-old daughter of a local farmer, was attacked and killed by a polar bear outside her home near Skagafjordur in northern Iceland. Polar Bears are not native to Iceland and have not been seen there since the middle ages.

The animal swam ashore early Friday, possibly from Greenland, over 200 miles distant. Authorities tracked the animal while waiting for a tranquilizer gun to arrive. But the bear eluded them and dissappeared into fog covered hills. Six hours later Karin's father called authorities to say that his daughter had been mauled by a bear while tending the family garden. She died before medical help could arrive...

--------------------------------------------------------------

Cops have nightmares about being responsible for a story like this... cut 'em some slack. We weren't there.

Until we achieve a very different consensus about the value of natural life vs the value of human life, there will continue to be tragedies like this.

Given that the last time a polar bear arrived in iceland was 15 years ago, it's not surprising that the police didn't develop a special "polar bear response plan." So the cops didn't have a clue as how to respond, go figure.

I'm sure everyone here would have been a regular Jonny-on-the-Spot, but I would have pooped my pants, scratched my head, and said "What the f--- do I do now."

I expect more from cops, and someone should have at least called the SPCA or the zoo or something. And not blocking the road was pretty dumb. But then regular bears turn up around my neck of the woods every now and again, so the cops know how to deal with it. But for these guys, it's a pretty extraordinary event.

Up until the bear was shot, it's clear they didn't handle it well, but that's not worthy of vicious hatred. As for the gruesome ending, according to the article, they didn't shoot the bear until it headed toward the crowd. At that point they had left themselves no options. Even stupid people should be protected from digestion by bears.

So, yeah, they screwed up bad. But they didn't yell "YEE HAW! Kill me some BAAR!" and run out guns ablaze.

And the comparison to evil Bambi murderin' hunters is just silly. As is the portrayal of hunters as some sort of terrible threat to society. I'm pretty sure the plant that packed my morning bacon has poisoned more people with effluent than have ever even heard the crack of a hunters rifle. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that more people have been poisoned by contaminated vegetables as well.

Sometimes the comments here sound like the rants of the 6:00 news: "Is a dangerous pervert lurking in your backyard? Will the eco-terrorists target your daughter next? Will a hunter shoot your tractor?"

I've never hunted; I just couldn't kill a cute furry animal no matter how delicious. But there are too many really bad things in this world to waste time worrying about people who kill and butcher their own meat.

Wow. What an amazing planet. A bear that just swam 200 miles should be respected. Bears do not stalk people unless people run from them. People should be trained to responsibly cohabitate the planet with their fellow creatures. Shooting the bear to keep people in a secure, but ignorant, fearful, helpless, dependent state of mind only creates more problems. Part of the progressive K-12 civics curriculum is to teach people how to get along on this planet. Field trips to interact with the wild animals, etc.

jjohnjj, Thanks for the extra effort to provide more context.

I can't believe I have twice in this forum in about a week defended (tepidly) cops or military officers.

This reminds me of "Stripes" when Bill Murray said about Old Yeller" that you can slaughter thousands in a war movie but if you "kill one damn dog" the tears start flowing.

rtdrury: "Part of the progressive K-12 civics curriculum is to teach people how to get along on this planet. Field trips to interact with the wild animals, etc."

Apparently, Icelanders didn't get the benefit of that curriculum. I don't think they should be eaten because of it.

"Bears do not stalk people unless people run from them."

I am positive you are correct. Of course, there are no bears in my office so I can afford to believe you. I'll let you know if my confidence is shaken next time I'm staring one down in person.

edit: Sorry. I agree with your general point. I will be less of a jerk in the future.

JerryRigged said "The US attacks Iraq and destroys it, just in case it might do us harm"

I don't think that's why the US attacked Iraq. They knew very well it posed no threat. They are right now accompishing their purpose, if they can get their proposal regarding permanent US occupation signed into law.

OK, so I wasn't there. I can't honestly say, after reading just one article, what the right thing to do was.
But what gripes my ass-is that the shooters posed for a picture with the carcus! There's no honor in that.

Of course this had to happen. After all, are not human beings the most important of all the other creatures?

One more time, human domination of the planet, has shown it's uncompromising stance on that domination. Human beings at least modern human beings are incapable of living in harmony with the rest of creation/evolution unless they LEARN to live in HARMONY. Actually Human Beings in their "natural" form are free of many of the defects of those in the present day "representation". The so called "primitive human beings" live in harmony with their entire environment because they recognize that they are "directly connected" to that environment. Modern Human beings, in most settings have been convinced that they have been given the authority over all other life forms via some abstract Deity, or teaching of some prophet who "speaks" for that abstract Deity. And therefore NOT CONNECTED TO NATURE.
Modern Human beings may well be on their way to extinction, and the survivors will be those who are able to realize that they are PART OF NATURE, not ABOVE it with AUTHORITY.
This story should be used as an example for those who wish others to learn to live in harmony with nature----for some it may be an "affirmation" of human POWER-----but it is only an illusion of POWER---------how much more powerful would their statement have been had the Bear been allowed to live?
The fact that so many readers took objection to the killing of the Bear----just may very well be a positive signal. That survivors of the inevitable destiny of Human Beings who cannot, for whatever reason, learn to live in harmony with nature---- will go on, while the others will most likely die of----or kill each other off.
I am sure that the Bear, described as an adult has been able to reproduce and pass on those genes to another generation, who may swim 200 miles in the open icy seas of the future, (where humans do not dominate) and reproduce with other Bears who did the same.

NativeSon, When scientists overflew that uncontacted Amazon tribe, the tribesmen responded by trying to kill them. I'm pretty sure that if a polar bear lumbered up to them, they would have killed it too. For that, I don't blame them, but I don't honor them for it either.

Had the bear been saved it would have been a powerful statement. Such statements are made all of the time when wild animals are safely captured and returned to wilder environments. Lots of Subaru driving, iPhone toting cosmopolitans with European names are out there rescuing wild animals. That's why this one is so shocking.

Those who are more "connected to nature," (those who live in the woods) don't like being mauled by animals any more than suburbanites. And as far as I know most of them "harmonize" in part by killing other creatures. There are plenty of things we can respect about them without creating bogus traits.

I'm rather impressed that so many city-slickers have grown to appreciate living things so much that we want to protect them even if they serve no direct practical value to us. No resting on laurels, but no bogus comparisons either.