Two polar bears have killed a worker at a remote Arctic radar station in a rare attack.
The unnamed employee was working on Brevoort Island, an uninhabited and remote part of Nunavut in northeastern Canada.
Nasittuq Corporation, which runs defence radar sites for the Canadian government, said colleagues responded on the scene and killed one of the bears.
“An attack by two polar bears has resulted in the loss of one of our valued employees,” the firm said in a statement.
“Nasittuq employees responded to the scene and one of the animals was put down.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and colleagues affected by this loss.”
Local newspaper Nunatsiaq News reports the company’s president, Chris Webb, said no further information will be released while police investigate.
“We need to respect the family in this tragic situation and let the [investigators] and the authorities do their job,” he told the paper.
The company added the “safety and wellbeing” of staff is their “highest priority” and they are “working closely” with the authorities to investigate the incident, which happened last Thursday.
They won’t be releasing the name of the victim “out of respect for the privacy of the family”.
The nearest settlement to the island is in the city of Iqaluit, which has a population of about 7,500 and lies 200km to the west.
Rare attacks ‘more frequent’
Polar bear attacks are rare anywhere in the world, even in Canada, where up to 80% of the global population live, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The group estimates there are between 22,000 and 31,000 polar bears around the world.
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Experts have long warned climate change and melting ice are forcing polar bears to find food on land more frequently.
According to a 2017 study published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, “nutritionally stressed adult male polar bears were the most likely to pose threats to human safety”.
“Increased concern for both human and bear safety is warranted in light of predictions of increased numbers of nutritionally stressed bears spending longer amounts of time on land near people because of the loss of their sea ice habitat,” the study added.
Attacks remain rare, the paper states, with 73 reported between 1870 and 2014 – but they have been becoming more frequent.
