A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said Friday.

While polar bears are a protected species in Iceland and it's forbidden to kill one at sea, they can be killed if they pose a threat to humans.

Icelandic police shot a polar bear near a cottage in northwestern Iceland after consulting the Environment Agency. The bear likely traveled from Greenland on an iceberg and posed a threat to human life.

For the first time in years, a polar bear was spotted on Icelandic soil but within hours, it was deemed a threat and shot by the police on Sept 19. An elderly woman in the remote north-west of Iceland called for help after encountering the animal just metres away from her summer house,