Of 73 documented attacks by polar bears from 1870 to 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States — which killed 20 people and injured 63 — 15 occurred in the final five years of that period.

The bear shot on Thursday was the first one seen in the country since 2016. Sightings are relatively rare, with only 600 recorded in Iceland since the ninth century.