There are not more than a thousand of them, but they are a symbol of this area, which is twice the size of Belgium and is attached to Norway. First of all, tourists go to Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean to see them. But walking into polar bear territory is not without risk. Since 1971, the archipelago, also known as Svalbard, has been the scene of six deadly attacks. This Monday, a French tourist was attacked in his camp. Driven away by gunshots, the bear finally escaped. Being wounded by shots, you have to shoot.
Christian Kempf studied these large animals all his life and dedicated three books to them. He now organizes polar expedition cruises for tour operator Grands Espaces. Could this attack have been avoided? How to behave in front of a bear? He answers journalists’ questions from Longyearbyen Airport, the administrative capital of this area Figaro:
LE FIGARO. – A polar bear is attacking the camp, have you witnessed something?
Christian Kempf. – Spitsbergen has about one attack a year. A bear is a dangerous animal, and at night in a bag you can easily be mistaken for a seal, which it loves. A fortiori in the summer, when it goes into “energy saving” and wanders in search of food. This is why the prefect is asking Norwegians who have huts or second homes not to go there at this time. Totally irrelevant, the tourists can keep coming.
An injured bear must be euthanized during an intervention. How could such a dramatic outcome be avoided?
For me, camping should be banned, especially at this time. We should go see the bears by car, like we do in African parks for example. If there is a camp, it should be protected by an invisible wire that launches a rocket in case of an invasion. The presence of night guards, at least two, with a signal gun is also necessary to detect the arrival of a predator. At Grands Espaces we always send someone ashore as a scout before we disembark. If there is a bear in sight, we don’t get off the boat.
Should tourism be limited to this part of the world?
Every year 100,000 tourists visit Spitsbergen, 60,000 take part in excursion cruises, another 40,000 stop in Longyearbyen because they are on large ships that cannot go further. This is a constantly increasing indicator, because the flight is not so expensive. For 1000 euros we treat ourselves to Spitsbergen without thinking about the damage. Measures should be taken to better control these flows. A man enters the habitat of a polar bear, it is normal that there are restrictions. The prefect already prohibits approaching a bear within 50 meters, and is considering raising that limit to 500 meters.
We often warn about the fate of the polar bear. How is he doing in Spitsbergen?
There are between 22,000 and 25,000 polar bears left in the wild worldwide. According to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the main threats to the bear are poaching and pollution. Of the 19 bear populations in the world, 5 or 6 are increasing. This is the case of Spitsbergen and neighboring François-Joseph (Russian) land, which is estimated to be around 3,000. The fact remains that 11% of Svalbard’s bears do not breed, probably due to environmental pollution. . And that they are inevitably threatened by the pure and simple destruction of their habitat, the sea ice. It loses 90,000 km² per year. After twenty years, the consequences will be dramatic.
Source: Le Figaro
