They shot another polar bear in Iceland yesterday, the second one to swim to shore this month. Some people assume that polar bears are native to Iceland, but they're not: they're foreigners, floating over on icebergs from Greenland. Most of them drown, though, as the ice melts away underneath them. Even polar bears can only swim for so long.
I didn't think they'd kill this one. I heard there were experts coming from a zoo in Denmark. They were going to tranquilise it, take it home with them and... and look after it, right? But in the end they said they couldn't manage it, and they shot it dead before it had a chance to attack somebody.
Before I went to bed last night I turned off every light, unplugged all my chargers, and switched the TV off stand-by, as if it would make a difference.
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Christ, first we start melting the Polar ice cap and Greenland and then we shoot the escapees. Like the world is full of Polar Bears.
ReplyDeleteAlda has more news on the bear. It wasn't a well bear and wouldn't have lasted much longer.
ReplyDeletePoor bear. *sniff*
Yes, the bear story is tragic, but I think the Icelanders made their best effort this time. Still, it makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteMan, I hate it when polar bears die. There's something so terribly unfair about the needless death of a giant cuddly killing machine. I mean that.
ReplyDeleteI have recently started unplugging my laptop at night. I'm also trying to get into the habit of switching on my water heater only when I need it (it was on automatic before).
How sad. :(
ReplyDeleteA shame, but at least they tried, this time! And there weren't any photos of proud hunters published - not that I saw, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI know they tried. It'll be interesting to see what'll happen now when number three turns up. (See Alda's blog for details of the polar bear premonitions).
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm totally sad about the bear. It would have been great had the rescue efforts worked out. I think everyone was really psyched for that to happen. But the bear was sick and wouldn't have lived long anyway. The poor thing.
ReplyDeleteOf course this only means one thing: we all need a Toyota Prius for Christmas.
The thing is, if ALL do it, it will make a difference.
ReplyDeleteNo individual raindrop ever blames itself for the flood.
Annie: Why not have rebound sex with sad, displaced polar bears, to cheer them up? You know what males are like, they'll fall asleep immediately afterwards, so the zoo boffins won't even need tranq darts - they can just bundle up the snoring, post-coital mountains of fur and ship them back to Greenland.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the global warming that kills off cockroaches?
ReplyDeleteWhy does it have to be the big, photogenic mammals that die?
Damn you, global warming!
We'd better appreciate those polar bears before all the ice melts and they become extinct. Except for the rather gloomy-looking ones left shambling around in zoos.
ReplyDeleteIt's too late. My friend Eavan told me they'll be extinct in the wild in our lifetime, there's nothing we can do. And she should know because she's the expert on polar bears, having once explored the arctic circle.
ReplyDeleteSad. Reminds me a bit of stories of moose occasionally going for a dip off the Swedish coast and accidentally swimming to Denmark. The Danes were so happy to have them and put up new road-signs and everything but, alas, they never survive either.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I should have told a jolly story. Hope your heart's doing OK.
Dilemma - should I be on my computer posting here about how moved I was by your Polar Bear blog??? Surely not looking using my computer is better? Oh, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI've replied to the e-mail you sent me in May (to my old, pre-married e-mail address). I've sent it from my NEW e-mail address, well, I say new, like from August last year. But hey ho.
Just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you. Offer still stands for a FL/Nexts reunion in Cardiff.
Emma x x
>Some people assume that polar bears are native to
ReplyDelete>Iceland, but they're not: they're foreigners
Shooting them because they're foreigners hardly seems fair. Imagine if we started shooting all the foreigners that arrived on our shores - what would I do for a latte in the morning?
They're shooting them?! That's terrible. Though I would guess it's better than drowning. Yikes. There has to be something better they can, location can't be all that difficult.
ReplyDeleteI must be very hormonal, this post is so sad.
ReplyDelete