Killerbear with toothache
Foto: Mari M. Press
The Polar bear that killed a 17 year-old British boy and injured four others in Svalbard, Norway suffered from severe tooth pain.
Tennene var nedslitte og nervene blottlagt
As a routine, dead predators are tested for rabies in areas with the disease. The post-mortem examination performed at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute quickly revealed that the bear’s teeth were very worn down.
− The nerves on two of its canine teeth and on several of its small front teeth were exposed. This must have caused the bear great pain and might explain why the bear was more aggressive than normal, says Bjørnar Ytrehus, the veterinarian that examined the bear’s head. In addition the bear was found to be very skinny and was probably very hungry. This combination of pain and hunger could have cased the bear to become particularly fierce.
− On the basis of the worn teeth we consider the animal to be an elderly bear. An alternative could be that the animal had a disease or injury that caused it to eat vegetation rather than hunt its usual prey, and so have worn down its teeth. This however cannot be determined without a full post mortum, Ytrehus says.
Even though healthy, normal polar bears can attack, we believe that a bear in such great pain and probably also with great difficulty finding food could behaviour in an abnormally reckless and aggressive manner to humans.
The rabies tests that were run gave negative results.
Contact persons Norwegian Veterinary Institute:
Veterinarian Bjørnar Ytrehus
Veterinarian Torill Mørk (rabies)
Virologist Christine M. Jonassen
