Norway fines tourist guide for scaring polar bear
Usually the humans are scared of the wild animals. But in the Norwegian far-north, an Arctic tourist guide has been fined 1,300 euros ($1,500) for scaring off a polar bear.
When a group of tourists on a snowmobile expedition in May spotted a bear standing still, 900 metres (2,950 ft) away, their guide decided to approach the predator to take a closer look.
The animal, spotted on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, fled the scene.
“The regulations say that it is forbidden to approach polar bears in such a way that they are disturbed, regardless of the distance,” the Svalbard governor’s office said in a statement.
Located 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the North Pole and twice the size of Belgium, Svalbard is, according to 2015 state figures, home to nearly 1,000 polar bears, a protected species since 1973.
Five deadly attacks on people have been recorded in about 40 years.
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