THE ONLY PLACE ON EARTH WHERE YOU HAVE TO CARRY A GUN, BY LAW

Have you ever heard of a place called Svalbard? Well, if you haven’t, it’s a group of islands that are actually part of Norway. These islands are way up in the Arctic Circle and the most northerly, permanently inhabited part of Europe. Svalbard is not a place that would appear high on the majority of people’s holiday destinations, if at all, but there are a lot of people who visit this rugged, barren archipelago. Figures show that in 2011 there were 85,000 visitors (78% Norwegian and 22% other nationalities). Of this 22%, 16% were Swedish and British visitors.

Svalbard is the only place on earth where, by law, you have to carry a gun if you’re outside settlement limits.

Most of Svalbard’s visitors go there for the Arctic nature. Stunning glaciers carve their way through the mountains and there is an abundance of wildlife to see from Arctic foxes, reindeer, walruses and seals. There are many bird species to see, including Arctic turns and puffins. The waters around the islands are home to narwhals, humpback whales, orcas and beluga whales, particularly during the summer months.

There is, however, one animal that’s not been mentioned yet; the polar bear. There are around 500 bears that inhabit the islands and out of all the wildlife, it’s Svalbard’s polar bears that are by far the most dangerous and the biggest threat; although it’s very important to put things into perspective. Since 1973 there have been six people reported killed by polar bears. The most recent was in 2011 when 17 year old Horatio Chapple was killed while on an adventure holiday with the British Schools Exploring Society. In March of this year, a camper, who was visiting Svalbard for the solar eclipse was attacked and mauled. Jakub Moravec, from the Czech Republic was attacked while he slept in his tent, receiving minor injuries to his face, arm and back.

Because of the bears, Svalbard is the only place on earth where, by law, you have to carry a gun if you’re outside settlement limits. Groups travelling beyond these limits must carry at least one gun with them and travel with someone who is competent in the use of firearms. It is possible to rent guns, but you must be able to produce a respective firearms licence, or equivalent documentation from your home country showing that you are fit to carry a firearm. In special circumstances, if you don’t hold valid permits from your home country, it is possible to apply for a temporary permit via the governor of Svalbard. The application time for this can be up to one month.

The governor of Svalbard is not an individual person, but an administration team that is responsible for public services, such as fire and rescue and policing.

If you don’t hold valid firearms documentation, the easiest thing to do is to travel with a local guide.

The polar bears are fully protected. People are prohibited to pursue these animals or attempt to make any form of contact with them. This is not only for their own safety, but also for the safety of the bears. In the event of a bear encounter, shooting it has to be the very last option available; something, somewhere along the line, must have gone terribly wrong; i.e., all other safety precautions against the bear have failed, trip wires, flash bangs, warning shots, for example, have not deterred the animal from continuing on its course of potential attack.

If the situation arises where a polar bear has to be shot, a thorough investigation is carried out by the police, but this investigation is definitely preferable to the one that would need to be undertaken if somebody is killed by a polar bear.

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