2011 Svalbard polar bear attack
On 5 August 2011, a starving polar bear in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard attacked a party of school children,[1] organised by the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), who had camped near the Von Post glacier, some 25 miles (40 km) from the settlement of Longyearbyen.[2] The bear was reported as being starving and emaciated.[1]
The BSES party of eighty members had planned their trip to run from 23 July to 28 August – the trip was cut short after the incident.[3] BSES, a youth charity, was founded in 1932 by Surgeon Commander George Murray Levick, a member of Captain Scott's expedition of 1910–13.
Seventeen-year-old Horatio Chapple, a pupil of Eton College, was with a party of twelve when the attack happened. Chapple was eaten as a result of the attack.[4] Four others were hurt, two seriously, and all were flown to Tromsø on mainland Norway for treatment. Chapple's grandfather, Sir John Lyon Chapple, was formerly the president of BSES.[5]
The bear was shot dead by one of the expedition's leaders, Spike Reid, who himself suffered severe head and face injuries.[6]
Aftermath
Police later disclosed that the organisers of the expedition had a gun which failed to fire four times because it was in safe position and had not assigned a night watchman.[7] Leaders of such expeditions are advised that camps should be protected either by trip wires that detonate deterrent explosives, lookouts through the night or guard dogs; of those options, the camp used trip wires alone, but they failed to trigger.[7]
The Sysselmann (local authority) requires a risk assessment for any camping trip such as this, which must then be approved by the Sysselmann.[8]
In September 2011, it was announced that a high court judge would chair an inquiry into the death.[9]
In March 2012, following an enquiry by Norwegian investigators, officials ruled that the attack could have been prevented if the expedition members had stayed in cabins instead of tents, had used guard-dogs and had deployed someone on polar bear watch. However, since none of these additional safety precautions were required by law, it was ruled that the expedition leaders would not face prosecution.[10][11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ BSES website. Accessed 8 August 2011
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- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Governor of Svalbard Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- Spitsbergen-svalbard.com with information about the polar bear attack
