TRAGEDY: BSES website shows a snapshot of some of its adventurers

LATEST UPDATE: Kensington-based BSES has decided to call off the ill-fated expedition that has claimed the life of Horatio Chapple, a 17 year-old Eaton student mauled to death by a polar bear in Svalbard, Norway. In a statement, it said;

Both on the advice of the Svalbard authorities and taking account of the wishes of group leaders, BSES has made the decision to end this expedition. Police, local authorities, group leaders and BSES feel that it would be wrong to continue their expedition in light of the tragic incident in Svalbard on 5 August 2011. We have begun making arrangements to repatriate all expedition members and leaders back to the UK.

All those still in the field are gathered at the base camp. Medical and transport authorities are working together to make a complex medical evacuation for the four expedition members who are injured. We are contacting the families affected regarding these arrangements. They have our full support.

This tragic incident has affected everyone involved, and we believe ending the expedition is the most appropriate decision. The Norwegian police have requested that we issue no information regarding the tragic incident in Svalbard on 5 August until their investigation has concluded. Again, we would ask you to respect the privacy of the families involved.

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UPDATE: The BSES has released a statement detailing the tragedy:

With great sadness, the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) confirms the tragic death this morning of one of the members of its expeditions in Svalbard. We have been in touch with the family to whom we extend our utmost sympathy.  They have asked that their privacy be respected and that any enquiries are directed to BSES. In addition to this death, four other members of the expedition have sustained injuries, two of them severe.  They are being evacuated to Tromsø hospital at present.  No other members of the expedition have been injured.

Once the Norwegian authorities have completed formal identification of those involved, their names will be released.  In the meantime, all the families have been advised. We continue to gather further information of this tragedy and our Executive Director, Lt Gen Peter Pearson is en route to Svalbard.  A further statement will be issued in due course. 

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A Kensington-based adventure outfit has been deluged with calls by worried parents after a polar bear savaged a youth on one of it's summer activity holidays and four other members of the party were injured. The British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) which organised the ill-fated trip released a terse statement on its website about being swarmed by calls, it said: " We will be issuing a statement shortly. Our telephone lines are extremely busy at present but we will endeavour to update the website as soon as possible."

According to the BBC, a party of 80 mainly 16 to 23-year-olds had been on a trip with the British Schools Exploring Society near a glacier on the remote Norwegian island of Svalbard when the tragedy occurred. The four who were injured included two leaders of the trip were reported to have been flown to Tromsoe in Norway. The attack, said to have happened near the Von Post glacier about 25 miles (40km) from Longyearbyen, took place early on Friday.  

Based at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington Gore, BSES Expeditions was founded in 1932 by a member of Captain Scott’s final Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13. Each year young people aged 16-23, from different schools, universities and many other walks of life, join together to take part in valuable adventure and environmental research projects in challenging areas of the world from the heights of the Himalayas to the heat of the Arabian desert, and from the valleys and glaciers of the Arctic to the lakes and rivers of the Amazon.

According to the BSES the projects are designed to teach young people about the host environment, culture and wildlife whilst delivering worthwhile and necessary results for local and UK academic and charitable bodies. Led by experts drawn from a host of professions such as universities, teaching and the armed forces, all the expeditions aim to help in the development of young people through the challenge of living and working in remote and testing areas of the world. It also organises month-long summer expeditions for Young Explorers aged between 16 and 20. Those over 18 can gain leadership experience through our Arctic and Desert gap year expeditions.

Polar bears

Polar bears are, along with the grizzly bears of Kodiak Island, Alaska, the largest living predators on land. They are also considered to be one of the few wild species that will actively hunt humans. However, the chance to do so occurs rarely, due to the extreme isolation of their Arctic habitat. Adult polar bears spend most of their lives alone, ranging over a vast icy landscape, using their acute sense of smell to locate their favoured prey of blubber-rich seals, whales and walruses.

If needs must, they will, like many bears, adapt their behaviour; polar bears have been seen feasting on goose eggs, while one bear has been recorded undertaking an epic nine-day swim to reach new feeding grounds. As climate change reduces ice cover, there are concerns that more polar bears will become displaced and will move further inland to seek food, bringing them into contact with more people.

(Source: bbc.co.uk)