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OVER TOURISM IN THE ARCTIC : Polar bear's death raises serious questions

Cruising to the Arctic has never been so popular. As the number of cruise passengers exploring this remote and beautiful part of the planet continues to rise, so too do concerns about over tourism.

Cruising to the Arctic has never been so popular. As the number of cruise passengers exploring this remote and beautiful part of the planet continues to rise, so too do concerns about over tourism.

These concerns have exploded in recent days after a polar bear was killed by a tour operator on the remote island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway.

On Sunday, 12 crew members from the German ship MS Bremen operated Hapag-Lloyd Cruises arrived on the archipelago to prepare for an on-shore excursion with passengers.

karryon-arctic-polar-bear

Image: Rolf Gelpke/Unsplash

According to a statement by the Svalbard governor’s office, it was during this time that a 42-year-old crew member was attacked by a polar bear.

In response, the bear was shot dead in what the crew member described as an act of self-defence.

He suffered non-life-threatening head injuries and is said to be in a stable condition.

Many have criticised the incident, including UK comedian Ricky Gervais who tweeted about it.

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Image: Gustav Busch/AFP via Getty Images

“Let’s get too close to a polar bear in its natural environment and then kill it if it gets too close”. Morons.”

Ricky Gervais

The most recent Svalbard Government Statistics reveal that number of cruise and expedition ship passengers has grown from 35,000 people in 2006 to 48,000 in 2016.

ABC News spoke to Head of Environmental Protection for the Governor of Svalbard Morten Wedege about the potential for over tourism in the area.

He commented that when you have more people coming to the same area in which the polar bears and other arctic animals live, the risk of conflict and disturbance increases.

karryon-arctic-polar-bear

Image: T MG/Unsplash

“Our challenge is to inform and educate and guide people to know how to behave in the high Arctic.”

Head of environmental protection for the governor of Svalbard Morten Wedege

He said part of the problem was the prevalence of individual tour operators that were not part of umbrella organisations that promote sustainable tourism.

“Individual operations that are not part of a network and don’t know the legislation properly and sometimes don’t know the arctic properly can pose challenges for us,” he said.

The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators is one such organisation that promotes sustainable tourism, with Norwegian tour operator Hurtigruten one of the founding members.

Hurtigruten Polar Bear

Image: Hurtigruten

Hurtigruten told ABC News that with professionalism and guidelines, a field landing in Svalbard could easily be done in a safe and environmentally sustainable way, even with 100 guests at a time on shore.

Rod Eime, a Journalist specialising in adventure cruising who has travelled extensively in Arctic regions agrees.

“While this event has had a tragic result for the polar bear it is by no means indicative of the operational procedures of any reputable adventure cruise company operating in the habitat of these majestic animals”.

Journalist Rod Eime

He said all ships operating in the waters with passengers keen to see polar bears in the wild must adhere to strict procedures before bringing guests ashore.

These guidelines are agreed upon by all operators and ratified by AECO as well as legislation laid out in Svalbard Environmental Protection Act which expressly forbids disturbing wildlife of any kind.

“While I was not a witness to this event, I know Hapag-Lloyd as being one of the most experienced, thorough and conscientious in the industry,” he said.

To his knowledge, this is the first time a rifle has even been fired, let alone with fatal results.

 

What do you think about the future of tourism in the Arctic? Let us know below.