SVALBARD, Norway (WJW) — Don’t poke the bear, or in this case don’t wake the bear — or you may face a hefty fine.
A person learned the punishment for such an act earlier this month in Norway‘s Svalbard archipelago.
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According to a statement published by the office of the region’s governor, a boat was making its way through Lomfjorden, a fjord in the Hinlopen Strait, when those on board noticed a polar bear sleeping on land.
Someone sounded the ship’s foghorn, waking the bear and causing it to move to another location, the statement said.
Lone polar bear (Ursus maritimus) standing on drift ice / ice floe in the Arctic Ocean along the Svalbard coast, Spitsbergen, Norway. (Photo by: Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Others on the boat notified the governor’s office, which then issued a fine of 50,000 Norwegian krone — about $5,300 — to the perpetrator for violating the Svalbard Environmental Act.
According to the governor’s office, the Svalbard Environmental Act establishes a “general prohibition against unnecessarily disturbing, attracting or pursuing polar bears.”
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Additionally, in accordance with the act, people are required to stay at least 300 meters away from the bears between July and February, and 500 meters between March and June.
The species has been protected by international law since 1973, according to CNN.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, 3,000 polar bears are estimated to live in the Svalbard and Barents Sea region.
The perpetrator accepted and paid the fine, the governor’s office stated.
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