The Polar Retrospective – South Greenland and the polar bears
The Polar Retrospective looks at stories of the past week that are related to the Arctic and Antarctic and focuses on one or more aspects. This time the focus is on South Greenland, where polar bears have become the focus of a discussion between the regional and national governments.
Basically, everything is clear: hunting polar bears in Greenland is a tradition and is regulated by quotas for each municipality. The quotas are constantly being redefined and are based primarily on information provided by local hunters and authorities. However, what should be done if a municipality suddenly feels threatened by the increased appearance of the king of the Arctic? This is precisely the question that Stine Egede, the mayor of the Kujalleq municipality, has put to Kim Kielsen, the Greenlandic minister responsible for hunting and fishing.
The debate became public because Mayor Egede wrote an open letter to Minister Kielsen demanding an increase in the shooting quota for polar bears in her municipality: 10 animals are to be shot instead of the 4, a quota already reached in March.
More bears in South Greenland?
The discussion between the municipal government in Qaqortoq and the government in Nuuk is nothing new. Back in 202, when a female polar bear with two cubs repeatedly appeared in the settlement of Qeqetarsuaqsiaat in the southwest over several days and could not be driven away, Nuuk was asked for a special permit to shoot the animals. In the end, the three animals were shot by a local hunter, but it is still not known whether permission had been granted. And now, another two dangerous situations have already occurred in the region this year.
Until now, polar bears have hardly been a problem in South Greenland. On the western side, which is the most densely populated, the white predators were only very rare visitors. However, according to Mayor Egede, the number of sightings in the populated areas has increased sharply and the behavior of the polar bears has become more fearless. “The increase in numbers is so striking that the presence of female polar bears with cubs of less than a year old has become the norm,” she writes in the letter to Minister Kielsen. The letter states that the increase in the polar bear population in the region is confirmed by local hunters and fishermen.
Polar bears as a threat to regional life
Mayor Egede justifies the increase in the hunting quota with the new dangerous situation in the region. People can no longer pursue their traditional activities without risk. “People are now afraid to go into nature, it is no longer attractive to camp, and there are other people who camp and dry fish for winter storage,” she writes. As a result, essential aspects of cultural life are being restricted, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the traditional way of life.
In fact, the region is indeed special compared to the rest of Greenland. In the southwest of the world’s largest island, the climate is somewhat milder and has been shielded from the harsher southeast side by the rugged mountain range and the ice sheet. The Norsemen, who settled here from the 10th century onwards, already saw the potential for agriculture as a source of food. Of course, people also fish and traditionally hunt seals and other animals as part of their livelihood. Nevertheless, sheep and cattle instead of musk oxen and reindeer, lettuce and potatoes instead of berries and other plants are essential components of today’s diet and life. Stine Egede believes that all this is at risk due to the increasing number of encounters with polar bears.
Visitors to the small settlements hardly imagine themselves in the wild Arctic, surrounded by stacks of hay, sheep and tractors. This is another point that may well have played a role in the municipal administration’s considerations (but is not mentioned in the letter): tourism. In recent years, southern Greenland has become a new destination for cruise ships of various sizes and types, thanks in part to the fact that polar bears are rarely encountered. Most members of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) take the rules for shore excursions in the Arctic very seriously and are appropriately equipped. However, other ships in the region have neither the knowledge nor the equipment, but still go ashore. A polar bear suddenly appearing on the outskirts of a settlement can be quite dangerous, not only for the people directly involved. Cruise vessels that lack the equipment and knowledge to protect their guests could potentially stay away, thus reducing an income source that is only just becoming lucrative due to new legislation.
What Nuuk says
The call from South Greenland is now with the national government, or more precisely with the responsible Naalakkersuisoq (Minister) for Hunting and Fishing, Kim Kielsen. There is no official decision yet. However, a similar request from East Greenland by the hunting administrations of Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit, which are currently allowed to shoot 25 respectively 35 polar bears, was rejected by Kim Kielsen in April. The letter, however, does not state any reasons for the “no”. The increases requested by the local hunting administrations were 15 additional bears for Tasiilag and an unspecified number for Ittoqqortoormiit, which is located on the edge of the national park. This decision is all the more remarkable because the new policy on dealing with polar bears, which has been in place since 2023, states that the experiences of local representatives should be taken into account to a greater extent when setting quotas.
This new policy also has other aspects: On the one hand, the animals in southeast Greenland are under special protection thanks to their unique genetics. On the other hand, the government has adopted an easier way of dealing with polar bears that enter settlements. This would allow licensed hunters to shoot an animal without a permit if there is a threat. The shot animal is then either deducted from this year’s quota or from the following year’s quota.
For the government, the demand from Kujalleq is therefore likely to become a tightrope walk on the back of the polar bears.
Dr. Michael Wenger, Polar Journal AG
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