Polar bear attacks Swedish expedition

Researcher and nature filmmaker Lars Oyvind Knutsen woke up to a nightmare through the night until Tuesday.

During the film’s trip to Greenland, an angry, hungry polar bear breaks into Lars-Öivind’s bedroom window.

“I woke up to a bang, and I looked at the head of a polar bear staring at me,” says Lars Oyvind Knutsen.

Together with nature photographers Goran Elmi and Simon Stanford, Lars Oyvind Knutsen was in the East green land To make a documentary about walruses.

But above all, the team, and especially Lars Oyvind, was in close contact with other beings.

– We went to bed for a good night’s sleep, in hot weather I would have left a small hole in the window. At four o’clock I woke up to a bang, and I looked at the head of a polar bear staring at me. I cried out loud. The bear withdrew at first – but then it entered like a projectile with its entire upper body and bit me in my hand, the thumb was very scarred, says Lars Oyvind in an article on the Swedish production company deep sea Location.

Lars Oyvind also recounts how the bear then tried to pull him out of the window while hitting the animal with his free hand.

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He wanted to eat Lars Oyvind

In the next room, fellow Goran Elmi woke up from all the noise. When he realized what was happening, he grabbed a broom that ran out and threw it at the polar bear, then pulled away. Second mate Simon Stanford fired a shot with a signal pistol and the bear finally sped away (without Lars-Öivind).

According to Lars-Öivind, who wrote a doctoral thesis on polar bears, there is no doubt as to why the polar bear attacks.

– The hungry animal saw me as food, he says.

Under these circumstances, Lars Oyvind felt relief after the attack, but was taken to a hospital in Iceland for treatment. Simon and Goran are still in Greenland and due to poor coverage, no one from the team can be found.

Polar bears cuddled around the hut

But editor-in-chief Peter Lofgren told Aftonbladet that boys in Greenland saw a polar bear roaming their cabin days before the attack.

– It’s very hot in Greenland right now, 20 degrees. That’s why polar bears head south. The ice in the north has shattered, which means they can’t hunt seals. Then they walk or swim south and forage along the coast and it just so happens to be Lars Oywind, says Peter.

According to Peter, the team owns rifles, but they can only be used in life-threatening situations because the polar bear is protected.

After the attack, the polar bear is back to make new attempts to enter the expedition house, so it may now be appropriate to shoot the animal.

On the way back

Despite the life-threatening meeting, Lars-Öivind is determined to return to Greenland and complete the project.

– The other young men just wanted to stay, and Lars Oyvind was on his way back, says Peter.

The team is now hoping the rest of the shooting can be done safely – but that’s not normal.

– We are there to photograph another animal that is also one of the most dangerous in the world. Walruses are also huge and very aggressive. But it’s an exciting, adventurous boy.