Several different parties are all in competition with each other to be able to take possession of the stuffed remains of a polar bear shot in Hornstrandir last May.
The bear in question was first spotted walking along the isolated shores of Hornstrandir by a fishing boat. A helicopter and local police were deployed, and the bear was shot and killed by the afternoon.
Since then, Jón Gunnari Ottósson, director of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, has said that no decision will be taken on what will happen to the bear’s remains until it is stuffed this winter. Several people are now already hoping to be the one to receive the stuffed polar bear for their very own, Bæjarins Bestu reports.
The Arctic Fox Centre in Súðavík already has designs on the bear, with a planned exhibition entitled “A visit from the white bear”. Although no formal decision has been made, the centre’s director, Ester Ósk Unnsteinsdóttir, remains optimistic that they will receive the polar bear.
However, the Arctic Fox Centre aren’t the only ones after it. The Environment Agency of Iceland would like to see it in the lobby of their office in Hornstrandir, as would the hotel Núpur in Dýrafjörður, as well as another applicant from Fljót in Skagafjörður.
Which of these four will be the lucky ones to receive a stuffed polar bear is still anyone’s guess, but a decision on the matter is expected in the coming days or weeks.
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