Apparently, the man was attacked in a tent at night • The owner of the site: "He had the appropriate training and said that the situation was under control"

• About 1,000 polar bears live in Svalbard

  Photo: 

  AFP

A polar bear killed a Dutch citizen who worked in an overnight car park in the Arctic, it was reported yesterday (Friday). The man was apparently attacked in a tent before dawn and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. People who were at the scene shot a bear, which is lifeless at the local airport.

The incident took place near Longyearbein - the main island in the Svalbard archipelago, which according to Wikipedia is located in the Arctic Ocean, about halfway from Norway to the North Pole.

The owner of the camp, Michelle van Dijk, told the NOS media network that the man who was killed, Johann Jacobs Kote, a 38-year-old Dutch citizen, had been the site's director for two years. "He had the proper training and knew how things worked." According to Van Dick, a warning was issued for bears arriving at the site earlier, and these were not observed in the camp during its 45 years of existence.

"Johan said the situation is under control," she said. She added that there was a guard dog at the camp site, but plans to fence off the compound to stop the bear invasion were halted due to the corona virus.

This is the sixth assault incident in nearly 50 years in the area. According to data from 2015, Svalbard is home to about 1,000 polar bears, which are a protected species. The recommendation for residents is to carry a gun when they are away from built-up areas. Experts claim that polar bear hunting grounds have shrunk due to climate change, forcing them to look for food in populated areas.