Polar Bear Attacks Tent in Norway's Arctic, Injures Tourist

Yahoo Travel

Tourists are warned to keep their distance from polar bears in the wild. (Photo: AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Norwegian authorities say a foreign tourist was slightly injured when a polar bear attacked the tent he was sleeping in on the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Police spokesman Vidar Arnesen says it’s not clear whether the person was on Svalbard for Friday’s total solar eclipse. Hotels there have been sold out for years for the event.

Tourists stand in the camp where a polar bear attacked in Svalbard, Norway Thursday March 19, 2015 . (Photo: AP)

Arnesen said the man, whom he could not identify, was among a group of six that slept north of the main town of Longyearbyen. No one else was injured. The bear was immediately shot dead following Thursday’s attack.

Visitors to Svalbard, islands more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the Norwegian mainland, are reminded often that polar bears roam. When moving outside of settlements, people must carry firearms.

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