A polar bear that was heading towards a pair of playing children has been killed on Greenland, reports Greenlandic KNR.
The number of polar bears has increased on the island over the past year.
It was on Tuesday evening that a private individual shot the polar bear in the village of Ittoqqortoormiit on southeastern Greenland.
A person called and said that her husband had shot a bear. It was about five meters from their house and pushed away the dogs and was heading towards the football field where the children were playing, says Anette Ostenfeldt at the Greenland police.
Both police and authorities have been involved in the case. The police will assess whether the polar bear was shot in an emergency situation or if it could have been avoided. According to the police, it had been in the area for several days.
The number of observed polar bears has increased on Greenland over the past year.
There were many last year, but it's almost excessively many this year, says police officer Jack Nathansen to KNR.
One explanation is that there has been sea ice since February this year. In June, the Danish Meteorological Institute reported that there was an unusually large spread of sea ice off southern Greenland.
At the beginning of the summer, several local politicians called for an increase in the quota of polar bears that can be shot annually, which is currently 156.
