On the 5th August 2011 a starving[1] polar bear attacked a party of school children, organised by the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), who had camped near the Von Post glacier, which is some 25 miles (40 km) from the settlement of Longyearbyen, in Svalbard.[2] The BSES party consisted of some eighty members whose trip had began on 23 July and was planned to run until 28 August – the trip was cut short after the incident.[3] BSES, a youth charity, was founded in 1932 by Surgeon Commander G. Murray Levick, a member of Captain Scott's expedition of 1910–13.
Seventeen-year-old Horatio Chapple, a pupil of Eton College, was with a party of twelve when the attack happened. Chapple died as a result of the attack.[4] Four others were hurt, two seriously and all were flown to Tromsø, on mainland Norway for treatment. The bear was reported as being starving and emaciated.[1] Chapple's grandfather, Sir John Lyon Chapple, was formerly president of BSES.[5]
The bear was shot dead by one of the expedition's leaders, Michael Reid, who himself suffered severe face, head and neck injuries.[6]
Police later disclosed that the organisers of the expedition had a gun which failed to fire four times and had not assigned a night watchman.[7] Leaders of such expeditions are advised that camps should be protected either by trip wires that detonate deterrent explosives, lookouts through the night or guard dogs; of those options, the camp used trip wires alone, but they failed to trigger.[7]
The Sysselmann, i.e. the local authority, requires a risk assessment for any camping trip such as this, to be then approved by the Sysselmann.[8]
In September 2011 it was announced that a high court judge would chair an inquiry into the death.[9]