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Polar bear MAULS woman tourist's arm at Arctic campsite, gets shot while escaping

The unnamed French woman was with a tour group of 25 people when the polar bear attacked

SVALBARD, NORWAY: A polar bear reportedly attacked a French woman on Monday, August 8, while she was camping on a remote Norwegian Arctic island. It has been said that the animal entered the unnamed woman’s campsite, where she was staying with a group of 25 people, and mauled her arm. The campsite was apparently at Sveasletta, a site over 500 miles north of the Norwegian mainland in the Svalbard archipelago.

Reports quoted Police Chief Superintendent saying that officers reached the woman via air. The woman, who is in her 40s, luckily did not suffer severe injuries. Her arm was just hurt and she was airlifted to the hospital in Longyearbyen. Authorities had to fire warning shots to scare off the polar bear. It is reported that the bear got wounded as a result and Bredli added that “our people on the scene are considering what to do with it.”

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It has been reported that “polar bear warning signs are all over Svalbard.” People are told to carry a firearm with them if they plan to spend the night in the open. Since the 1970s, at least five people have lost their lives because of polar bears. The last fatal incident was reported in 2020 when a Dutchman was killed. The 38-year-old Johan Jacobus Kootte was camping on the island of Svalbard, which is near the town of Longyearbyen, when he was savaged by the beast. Soon after the attack, he died.

A report by the Guardian stated that nearly “20,000-25,000 polar bears live in the Arctic. In 2015, a polar bear dragged a Czech tourist out of his tent as he and others were camping north of Longyearbyen, clawing his back before being driven away by gunshots. The bear was later found and killed by authorities.”

More recently, in July, a video went viral on the internet that showed a female polar bear cub getting help from rescuers after her tongue got stuck inside a tin can. The bear, identified as Monetochka, first reportedly pleaded with locals before a team of rescuers flew down to the Arctic port of Dikson from Moscow to assist her.

Mikhail Alshinetsky, the chief vet of Moscow Zoo, said: “It's a bear cub, female, about two years old. The tin got stuck and its lid clamped down on the tongue. The animal spent a few days with a tongue stuck, and the tongue became swollen. The bear was unable to drink or eat. We successfully sedated her, removed the tin, and gave antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications.”

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After the story went online, a number of people reacted to it with one tweeting, “This brings tears to my eyes, it's so beautiful! Thank you for sharing this. This is such a good example of just how barbaric and cruel the Russians really are... ❤🇷🇺❤” The second one said: “Well this was a nice fill good story, glad to see it had a good ending. Thaks for sharing it.” “Heartwarming story, Thank you for what you did to save this poor baby,” the third one added.