Polar bears killed in Svalbard 1987-1992 IAN GJERTZ. SISSEL AARVIK and REIDAR HINDRUM Gjcrlz. 1.. Aarvik, S. & Hindrum. R. 1993: Polar bears killed in Svalbard 1987-1992. Polar Research 12(2). 107- 109. A total of 26 polar bears have been killed in Svalhard since January 1987. Fifteen of these cases wcrc self defense. four precautionary measures, six acts of mcrcy and one unknown. Twclvc of the 15 self defense C ~ S C S occurrcd in the wilderness: nonc occurrcd in populatcd areas. Most self defence cases involved non- rcsidents of Svalhard and hence people not familiar with polar bear bchaviour and encounters. 1. Gjertz. Nor.rk Polarinstituti. P . 0. Box 505. 91 70 Longyeorbyen, Norway: S. Aaroik and R. Hindrum. Sysselmannen pd Soatbard, 9170 Longyearbyen. Norway. Introduction take refuge near populated areas and are thus The implementation of the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears resulted in a total ban on all polar bear hunting in Norwegian ter- ritory since 1973 (Anonymous 1974). After July 1973 polar bears have only been shot in acts of self defense, as precautionary measures or in acts of mercy. All such cases are considered as police matters and are either investigated or authorized by the Governor of Svalbard. Gjertz & Person (1987) reviewed the recorded information on incidences where polar bears had been killed or had injured people in Svalbard from 1973 to 1987. A total of 50 such cases had been registered. The purpose of the present study was to review all known incidents of polar bears killed i n Sval- bard in the period 1987-1992, including incidents where bears were killed due to conflicts with humans and also those where bears were killed in acts of mercy. Methods In this study the term “serious confrontation” refers to cases where bears have been shot in self- defense or as a precautionary measure, and to cases where people have been injured or killed by bears. In addition, bears are sometimes put to death as acts of mercy, for example they have been deemed unable to survive due to old age, injury or disease. This requires special permission from the Governor and occurs primarily when bears considered a possible threat. The data on bears killed have been obtained from the Governor’s files and the local newspaper, Sualbardposten. The Governor’s files consist either of police records or of the con- servation officers’ records. The latter also contain some biological information on the bears killed. When possible, conservation officers collect data on the sex, age class, zoological length, girth, blubber thickness and weight of the animal. In many cases bears are killed in such remote areas that reports of these incidents reach the Governor too late for the systematic gathering of any bio- logical information. Results A total of 26 polar bears have been reported killed in Svalbard since January 1987 (Table 1). Twelve bears were killed in the summer months of July and August. These same months were the period with most killings in self defense (8). June and November were the only months without any bears being killed. The geographical distribution of the 26 killing cases (15 self-defense) is as follows: northern coasts of Svalbard, including Nordaustlandet, 9 (8); the eastern coasts of Svalbard, including Edg- ecbya and Hopen, 8 (6); the western coast of Svalbard 3; and the inner fjord regions of Spits- bergen, 6 (1). Most cases occurring in the fjord areas of Spitsbergen were precautionary measures or acts of mercy. 108 I. Gjertz et al. Table 1 . Polar bears killed in Svalbard 1987-1992. Date Site Cause 870126 870413 870727 870730 870806 8708 15 870823 870825 870909 880101 880222 880223 880427 8809 12 881012 881227 89081 1 900806 YO0726 900826 920323 920509 9205 10 920524 890802 Y 10730 80'24" 26"E Van Kculcnfjorden' Austfonna Austfonna Agardhbukta Rijpfjorden Hopen Hopen Kapp Lee, E d g e ~ y a Mosselbukta Rijpfjorden Isbjornhamna 80"30'N 8"E Krosspynten 83"N, NE of K v i t ~ y a Sveagruva Sveagruva Sveagruva Rijpfjorden Beckerfjellct Agardhbukta BlAfjorddalen Minkinfjellet lsbjernharnna Kapp Dufferin Ishjernhamna ?? SD SD SD S D SD PM AM SDIPM' SD SD AM SD SD PM PM PM AM SD SD SD/AM SD AM AM SD AM Involved B T S S T S C C L T P T L S L P P T T S P P T P SIP SIP Sex Age-class Length Male Male Female Male Male Female Male Male Male cub young young subadult 182 adult 196 adult 240 adult 225 cub 140 adult adult adult 250 Male adult Male subadult 180 Male subadult 197 Male adult 230 Male adult 210 Male subadult 188 Male adult 210 Male subadult Male adult Male adult 248 Female adult 195 Male adult 255 Girth (cm) 135 1 I7 175 125 I 0 0 138 1 I4 120 145 135 1 I7 164 1 I4 I42 Blubber >2 >2 0 c-2 0 0 c-2 &2 (L2 >2 >2 >2 c-2 >2 0 >2 0 ca 2(!4 I30 ca 150 310 ca 150 150 340 I = included in Gjcrtz & Persen 1987 SD = self dcfcnce; PM = precautionary measure; AM = act of mercy: ?? = unknown; B = boat; T = tourist: S = scientist; C = station crew; L = local person: P = police; Length = zoological length in cm. Blubber = Thickness in cm measured along lower back. 0 indicates no blubber present. = Human casualty No biological data existed on the age of 3 bears killed nor on the sex of 5 bears. Of the 23 bears of known age-class, 14 were adults. Of the 21 bears of known sex, 18 were males. Except for one two-year-old bear in the company of its mother and a sibling (Table 1, 870413), all the bears were believed to have been alone when shot. Discussion The polar bears killed in Svalbard between 1987 and 1992 can be classified according t o two main categories, those killed in serious confrontations and those killed for other reasons. Since polar bears are totally protected in Svalbard, incidences falling in the latter category must be authorized by the Governor. Such authorization has hitherto been granted only to policemen and conservation officers. These cases are almost exclusively acts of mercy. It is governmental policy to let old, sick or injured bears die natural deaths unless they take residence close to populated areas. In such cases, to avoid potential serious confrontations and to accommodate public concern for the ani- mals' welfare, these bears may be killed. According to Larsen (1986) population esti- mates for polar bears in the Svalbard area nearly doubled from 1967-1970 to 1980-1983, and sur- vival rates increased from the period 19541970 to the period 1977-1982. It is therefore probable that the number of bears reaching senility has increased today. No previous review exists of polar bears killed in acts of mercy in Svalbard. We do not know if these cases occur more fre- quently now than in previous years, but we think this is probable. Gjertz & Persen (1987) found that tourists and scientists were involved in 7 out of a total 9 serious Polar bears killed in Svalbard 1987-1992 109 confrontations that occurred in the months June through August. This was believed to be due to two factors: inexperience with bears and the remoteness of the areas visited. These people often visit the northern and eastern coasts of the archipelago where bears are most common. This trend was found also in the present study. Tourists and scientists were involved i n 13 of 15 cases of serious confrontations, all of which occurred in the northern or eastern parts of the archipelago. We believe that many of these incidents could have been avoided had those involved been more experienced with high Arctic conditions. In the period 1987-1992 only one serious con- frontation resulted in human casualty. Human casualties are rare, and apart from the case in 1987, we know of only four cases after 1970 in Svalbard. Three of these were reviewed by Gjertz & Persen (1987). The fourth case occurred in B j ~ r n ~ y a in November 1971 (Anonymous 1972). Basing their estimates on crude information, Gjertz & Persen (1987) suggested that many bears involved in serious confrontations in Svalbard were young. This same tendency was noted by Stenhouse et al. (1988). In the present study we see the same trend among bears killed i n serious confrontations, and these are most often males. This is in agreement with Fleck & Herrero (1988) who state that subadult males are at least twice as likely to become involved in an aggressive interaction than any other age and sex class. Her- rero & Fleck (1990) found that four of thirteen male bears that attacked humans were t h i n or skinny, suggesting nutritional stress. The infor- mation of blubber thickness contained in Table 1 is inadequate to determine whether bears killed in self defense are bears that are naturally stres- sed. As can be expected, blubber measurements (Table 1) show that bears killed in acts of mercy tend to be nutritionally stressed. Based on the results of this study it seems possible to conclude that those most prone to kill bears in self-defense are inexperienced non- residents of Svalbard who are visiting the remote northern and eastern areas of Svalbard. The prob- lem bears are predominantly males, often imma- ture. References Anonymous 1972: Telcgrafist p;l B j ~ r n o y a slitt i hjel av i s b j ~ r n . Polurhoken 1971-1 972. P. 154. Anonymous 1974: Om samtykke ti1 ratifikasjon av avtalc av 15 november 1973 om vcrn av i s h j ~ r n i Arktis. Srorrings- proposisjon 6 (1974-1975). 15 pp. Fleck, S. & Hcrrero, S. H . 1988: Polar bear-human conflicts. Prepared for: Parks Canada. Prairie Region and Department of Renewable Resources. 155 pp. Gjertz. I . & Persen. E. 1987: Confrontations between humans and polar bears in Svalbard. Polar Reseurch 5 . 253-256. Herrero. S . & Fleck, S. 1990: Injury to people inflicted by black, grizzly o r polar hears: Recent trends and new insights. Inrernurionul Conference on Beur Reseurch und Munugetnetit 8 . 25-32. Larscn, T. 1986: Population biology of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) in the Svalbard area. Norsk Polurinst. Skr. 184. Stcnhouse, G . B . . Lee, L . J . & Poolc K . G. 1988: Some characteristics of polar bears killed during conflicts with humans in the Northwest Territories, 1976X6. Arctic 41. 2 7 5 2 7 8 . 55 PP.