{"id":254453,"date":"2023-04-24T13:50:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254453"},"modified":"2023-04-24T13:50:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:50:35","slug":"netflix-polar-bear-star-dies-in-svalbard-days-after-being-tranquilized-her-orphaned-cub-is-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254453","title":{"rendered":"Netflix polar bear star dies in Svalbard days after being tranquilized; her orphaned cub is shot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in the morning on Good Friday (7 April), a mature polar bear sow with a cub at heal was\u00a0chased with snowmobiles<\/a>\u00a0away from a recreation area used by locals on the west coast but drowned after she escaped into the water. Her cub, likely a yearling male, attacked authorities trying to retrieve her body and was shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It turns out this 17 year old female was well known to locals and is considered Svalbard\u2019s most famous polar bear. They call her \u2018Frost.\u2019 She featured in the 2019 Attenborough-narrated Netflix documentary Our Planet<\/em><\/a>, in the sequence showing the stalk of a newborn ringed seal pup (see screencap above), which was likely filmed in early 2018 after the cliff-falling walrus scenes in Russia<\/a> that were filmed in October 2017. h\/t Sheila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frost apparently returns every year to this fjord complex near Longyearbyen, the capital city, to hunt ringed seals on the frozen ice and this has put her in regular close association with people. The map below shows the location of Longyearbyen on the west coast and the many glaciers that cover the archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One photographer boasts of having filmed her for five years (see tweet below), which suggests she is habituated to having people around. Past videos and photos of her show a bear in excellent condition (i.e., fat) and indicate she is an accomplished hunter despite claims\u00a0reiterated by Attenborough<\/a>\u00a0[watch at 34:14 to 39:00 in\u00a0Our Planet<\/em>] that global warming is making things difficult for bears in this area. However, there are no photos of her body condition this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Helgestad traveled specially from Norway to Spitsbergen yesterday to see Frost one last time
"He is heartbroken, not only by the death of the bear but also by the lack of information" – and the "chase"

The #Frost<\/a>-filmmaker on FB just now#Polarbears<\/a> #Svalbard<\/a> #ijsbeer<\/a> #Nature<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WGEAPNomzh<\/a><\/p>— Zirr (@ItsAzirr) April 13, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>