On a trip to Norway, a French tourist attacked by a polar bear

This French tourist has surely had the scare of his life. While she took a liking to the stay in the middle of nature in a camp on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic, it ends injured by a polar bear. Local authorities announced on August 8, 2022 that the life of the French tourist is not in dangerreports the Paris Match. After the polar bear attack, the French tourist, whose identity and age have not been revealedwas evacuated by helicopter to Longyearbyen Hospital.

In a statement, local police chief Stein Olav Bredli said: “From what we know, the woman of French nationality has an arm injury“. We also know that the tourist of French origin part of an expedition of 25 people who were staying in nature tentsindicates the Paris Match. “Shots targeted the polar bear who was frightened and left the scene“, says Mr. Bredli. Although the polar bear has since been located and identified, it is not yet known what will become of him.

Hundreds of bears live near people on the archipelago

the Paris Match recalls that according to a count dating from 2015, a thousand polar bears live on the Norwegian sector of the arctic. The French media also recalls that the polar bear is a protected species since 1973but only in Svalbard, “carrying a gun is mandatory when leaving urban communities“. As for the archipelago, 300 polar bears would live there year-round and some of them would also have settled in the west of the territory where many people live. Note that since 1973, six fatal attacks perpetrated by polar bears have been listed.