Two polar bears are killed on Iceland just weeks after USA lists them as a "threatened" species

What a shame. I sure hope they've learned to keep the anesthetic in multiple locations.

Wow thats really sad! You would think they would be well prepared for transporting a polar bear... its not like its a little puppy or something. Its a freaking GIANT wild polar bear. It really makes me wonder how certain people get into certain professions.

Hmm...and this is only 2 that have been reported. Plenty more are dying including their cubs because they drown. People are now starting to take action. I just hope it's not too late.

What a shame polar beer meat isn't suitable for human consumption (we don't eat things that eat other animals) If there was a market for their flesh (and skins) then there would be no issue of extinction. Plenty of goats, sheep, cows and chickens about..... YUM!

I was in Iceland when they shot the second one and followed it in the local news. They got experts from Denmark to help, who brought over a cage and a tranquilizer gun. These experts had never before tried to capture wild polar bears, and were mainly familiar with them from zoo's. When approaching the bear, they did so in jeeps, as they didn't dare to get close on foot! They needed to be within 30m or so to use the tranquilizer gun. Of course, the bear ran away when he saw jeeps approaching. What I don't get is why they didn't get 3-4 guys in cameo crawling towards him, one with a tranquilizer gun and a 2-3 with real guns in case the bear was prepared to attack them. They should have gotten people with real experience from polar bears, from Svalbard, Greenland or Alaska. Olmec: They threw away the meat, as it's illegal to sell it, though you probably can eat it. Though there is a market for the skin, in fact polar bear skins are VERY expensive. After they shot the bear, they found he had soars under his arm/legs, from swimming a great distance and that he was lighter than he should be. Still, I see no reason he wouldn't have been able to recover from that if captured. As a side note, it's questionable if the efforts and costs to save one bear who drifts over to Iceland, are not better spent on other projects to secure the living conditions for all polar bears in general.

Thank you for your comment Ringo. :)