LONDON — A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said Friday.

Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but they are a protected species in the country, and it is forbidden to kill one at sea. However, they can be killed if they pose a threat to humans or livestock.

In northwest Iceland, police shot a polar bear deemed a threat after an elderly woman reported its presence near her summer house. The environment agency advised against relocating the animal due to high costs.

Polar bears aren’t native to Iceland, though an occasional vagrant arrives from Greenland. So, it was quite a surprise for an elderly resident of a remote village to find one raiding her bins. Panicked,

A polar bear that made a rare appearance outside a cottage in a remote Icelandic village was shot by police after being deemed a threat to local residents.

The polar bear shot was spotted in the region after eight years. Sightings are relatively rare with only 600 recorded in Iceland since the ninth century

A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said Friday. The bear was killed Thursday afternoon in the northwest of Iceland after police consulted the Environment Agency,

It might have hitched a ride from Greenland on a floating iceberg.Police sharpshooters killed a polar bear that had come ashore on the northwestern tip of Iceland on Thursday. It's considered possible that the bear traveled with the help of an iceberg to Iceland from Greenland,