Frost, the world’s most photographed polar bear, no longer exists: ‘She was chased and hunted by drunk people, she drowned’

The photogenic polar bear came to an unfortunate end last week, says journalist Arno van Rensbergen, who happened to be in Spitsbergen. “Last Thursday evening, Frost and her cub, in search of food, approached some huts about 30 kilometers from the capital, Spitsbergen,” he said on Radio 1’s “The World Today” programme.

The remote cottages are used during holiday periods by both locals and tourists who often throw a party in the evening. “They tried to scare the polar bears with alarms and fireworks,” explains Van Rensbergen. “When that didn’t work, they chased polar bears with snowmobiles and chased the animals down to the water.”

Polar bears are usually excellent swimmers, but in Frost’s case this was an unfortunate coincidence. The polar bear was put into temporary anesthesia by the scientists a few days ago in order to research. “Perhaps still struggling with the effects of that anesthesia, she had gone into cardiac arrest from the stress of the chase and drowning of the unfortunate polar bear.” As a bear cub cannot survive on its own, her cub Frosty is also killed shortly thereafter.