A polar bear that likely drifted ashore from Greenland on an iceberg was shot dead by Icelandic police, reports Icelandic Rúv.
It was on Thursday that a homeowner alerted the police about a polar bear on the person's property on the Westfjords peninsula in northwestern Iceland.
The police responded with a helicopter and spotted the polar bear on a beach. A decision was made to put the animal down in consultation with the environmental authorities.
According to Rúv, there have been several icebergs off the coast of Westfjords in recent weeks, and it is possible that the polar bear traveled on one of them all the way from Greenland.
The police say they had no choice but to put the bear down.
The Coast Guard has transported the polar bear to Reykjavik, where it will be further examined by the Natural History Institute.
