Can Polar Bear Attack On Explorer’s Head By Linked To Global Warming?
POLAR Bear Watch takes us to hospital bed of Sebastian Plur Nilssen. He says he was on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard when he awoke to find himself in a polie’s mouth.
Mr Nilssen and a Mr Ludvig Fjeld were attempting to paddle 1,250 miles around the island chain. And they might have done it had the 23-year-old not had his head clamped on by a polar bear and been dragged for his tent. The polar bear, and adult male, chucked Mr Nilssen about. It’s teeth pierced Mr Nilssen’s lung.
The man escaped. And the polar bear was shot.
And so it is that there is now one fewer of the media’s pet endangered animal.
Says the explorer:
“It was so strong I could not fight, I grabbed for my shotgun and tried to shoot it but [the polar bear] had snapped [the gun] in half. It must have been only a minute I was in his jaws but it felt like forever. It was a big bear, at one point it stood up on its back legs with me in its mouth, I was 2.5 metres off the ground and it seemed very high.”
Says Mr Fjeld, who had a spare gun:
“I was about 20 or 25 metres from the bear and it had Sebastian in its mouth, I was very worried I did not want to hit Sebastian as well. That would have been a really bad day for him. When I fired the first shot, the bear dropped him, but I had to fire four more to make sure it was dead.”
Can the event be linked to global warming? If you see a link made, let us know…
Posted: 11th, August 2010 | In: Reviews Comments (5) | TrackBack | Permalink
