“Polar bear attacks on people are very rare,” says Geoff York, senior director of conservation with PBI, who is leading its coexistence initiatives. “Attacks that result in death are very rare. We want to keep it that way.”

Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway, sits deep within the Arctic Circle, about 700 miles from the north pole. It has about 35 year-round residents, but in summer the population swells to more than 100 as scientists fly in from around the world. Life in the town centres around saunas, sled dogs, and a weekly evening gathering called Strikk og Drikk, or Knit and Sip.

Alysa McCall, a biologist from Polar Bears International, a research and advocacy group based in Churchill, says: “Polar bears have become the poster-child of the environmental movement for good reason – the land they inhabit is literally melting beneath their feet.”

There was some controversy, with critics (including some climate crisis deniers) arguing that it’s impossible to prove exactly why this particular creature was so ill. But experts agree that polar bears in general are at serious risk. “The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, melting the sea ice that polar bears require,” says Krista Wright, executive director of Polar Bears International. “Research shows that if business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions continue, it’s likely that all but a few polar bear populations will collapse by 2100.”