Polar Bear Killed After Attack on Island Off Northern Norway

File photo of a polar bear in Maryland Zoo. Alex Wong/Getty Images

A polar bear was killed off a cruise ship on an Arctic archipelago on July 28, Norwegian authorities said.

The polar bear had injured a man who was leading tourists off a cruise ship, and was then shot dead by another employee of the ship “in an act of self-defense”, The Associated Press reported.

The German Hapag Lloyd Cruises company, which operates the MS Bremen cruise ship, said the man “was attacked by a polar bear and injured on his head,” AP reported.

Location of Svalbard dark green. A cruise ship landed on the most northern island of the Svalbard archipelago, where a bear attacked a man and was subsequently shot dead on July 28, 2018. (Rob984/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0 [ept.ms/2j9VWgB]

The injured man was one of two polar bear guards who went onto the island where the ship landed—the most northern island of the Svalbard archipelago, between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The island is known for its glaciers, reindeer and polar bears.

All cruise ships that travel in the northern region are obliged to have polar bear guards aboard, spokeswoman for the cruise company Nagar Erminan told AP. She said the polar bear was shot dead by the second polar bear guard in an act of self-defense.

The injured man was transported via helicopter to Longyearbyen town on Spitsbergen island. Etminan told AP that the man is being treated and is not in life-threatening condition.