Overview

• The incident occurred in late April 2025 in Pyramiden, a remote Arctic settlement in Svalbard, Norway, known for frequent polar bear activity.
• The man attempted to scare off the bear with gunfire but dropped his rifle and escaped by jumping onto a nearby snowmobile.
• Footage of the chase, filmed by onlookers, shows the bear stopping its pursuit as the man sped away on the snowmobile.
• Both the man and the polar bear were unharmed, and no injuries were reported, according to local authorities.
• Experts attribute a rise in polar bear-human encounters to climate change, as melting sea ice forces bears ashore in search of food.