The museum's stuffed polar bears

The first of them was stuffed in 1977, and this was also the first stuffed polar bear in Svalbard. The Governor of Svalbard, Leif Eldring, had already expressed a wish in 1975 that a skin should be stuffed and placed at Longyearbyen School. He asked the Zoological Museum in Oslo if they could undertake the stuffing and mounting of one of the five polar bear skins that were being prepared in Tromsø at the time. All were skins of polar bears that had been shot in self-defense after the protection regulations came into effect in 1973. The cost of stuffing a polar bear was estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 kroner at that time, excluding shipping and preparation. It would take two years before the governor's wish for a stuffed polar bear was fulfilled, and it was Tromsø Museum, with taxidermist Karsten Felsted, who carried out the job. Store Norske had allocated funds, and the welfare committee in Longyearbyen had allocated 3000 kroner to have the polar bear stuffed and placed at Longyearbyen School

The skin from a young female bear that was shot in self-defense in Svalbard was chosen. The stuffing process took place using a method called damoplasty. This involved creating a clay model of the polar bear's body, then a plastic mold based on the clay model. The polar bear body was then cast in polyester within this mold, but in a way that left it hollow inside, resulting in a very light weight of only 25-30 kilograms. This low weight meant that it did not need to stand on all fours as had been more common with stuffed polar bears before. This allowed for more movement and life to be created in the stuffed version," Karsten Felsted explained in an interview with the newspaper Nordlys on August 11, 1977. "The plastic mold was made so that the polar bear stood on three feet with the left front paw slightly lifted. The model was used later on as well, resulting in several polar bears having the same shape, including the first stuffed polar bears at both the Tromsø Museum and the Svalbard Museum. For a period, the stuffed polar bear from 1977 was displayed in the fireplace room at the governor's residence, but it was later moved to the school. There, it stood until 2019. The museum took over the polar bear and loaned it to the Svalbard folkehøgskole in 2023. It is now displayed in a showcase alongside a stuffed polar bear cub.

Svalbard Museum opened in the old Pigsty (Grisefjøsen) in 1981. At that time, the exhibitions included a polar bear that was quite similar to the one displayed at the school. The museum had applied to the department to take over a skin intended for the governor. In 1980, they had commissioned the preparation of the skin from zoological preparer Firoz Jessani at the Tromsø Museum. This version of the polar bear had spikes mounted on its feet and was exhibited on a plate in the museum's trapping department. The plate had styrofoam mounted on it to resemble ice. After the museum moved to Forskningsparken in 2005, this polar bear was not taken to the new location but remained in the Pigsty, which now functions as the museum's storage for larger objects.

The museum's third adult stuffed polar bear is made from the skin of a male bear shot at Kapp Lee on the northwest tip of Edgeøya on Saturday, March 5, 2005. A security officer from UNIS shot the well-grown polar bear at close range.

Accompanied by a student and his own Greenland dog, he arrived at Kapp Lee by helicopter for fieldwork. The Kapp Lee cabin was completely snowed in, and the two began digging out the cabin. Just a couple of minutes after the helicopter took off from Kapp Lee, they spotted the well-grown polar bear rapidly approaching the cabin. It came from the direction of Freemansundet and was first detected by the dog at a distance of about 300 meters. There was a snowdrift in front of the cabin door. The field team had only managed to get the door halfway open, and it couldn't be closed. The windows were still covered with shutters. Inside the cabin, it was completely dark. From a distance of around 150 meters, the security officer fired several shots with a flare gun, but the polar bear remained unfazed. When it was 11 meters away from the cabin, two shots were fired with the rifle, just above the bear's head. Nevertheless, it continued straight towards the cabin. Then, two shots were fired with a .500 WM revolver right in front of the bear in the snow. The bear did not react to the warning shots. The student stayed inside the dark cabin, while the security officer stood in the doorway. The latter shot the polar bear directly in the chest with one shot at a distance of only 140 cm. The polar bear turned, staggered away, and collapsed after 40-50 meters. The bullet passed through the bear's lung by 80 cm and got stuck in the skin on its way out.

The deadpolar bear was transported to Longyearbyen by helicopter the same afternoon. It was skinned, samples and measurements were taken, and the skin was salted. The polar bear had weighed 505 kg and measured 257 cm long. The skin was a rarity, and several parties expressed interest in acquiring it. However, it was the Svalbard Museum that was awarded the skin. At that time, the museum's new exhibition was under construction in Forskningsparken, and new stuffed animals were to be part of the environment. Therefore, the museum had applied to the Governor for the allocation of a polar bear skin for stuffing and had received a positive response as early as 2003. However, the skin initially promised to the museum turned out to be unsuitable for the purpose. Consequently, the museum requested to remain on the list for allocations of polar bear skins and was granted the skin from the polar bear at Kapp Lee. The company Naturexpo handled the stuffing. When the museum opened its doors in April 2006, the polar bear was a central attraction, and it remains so in the new version of the exhibition that opened in February 2024.

The stuffed polar bear cub displayed in the glass cabinet at the Svalbard folkehøgskole, alongside one of the stuffed adult bears, is made from the skin of a four-month-old polar bear cub. Station dog Bamse killed the cub at Isfjord Radio on May 11, 1995. The cub had arrived there alone. In consultation with the Governor, the crew waited to see if the mother would appear. While speaking with the Governor on the phone, the seven-year-old polar dog broke free and killed the polar bear cub. The crew found the polar bear cub dead in the courtyard. The cub weighed only 7.5 kg and had likely been separated from its mother for some time before it arrived at Isfjord Radio. The mother bear did not appear afterward. The Governor allocated the skin to the museum, even though relevant allocations of polar bear skins had already been made. The skin was to be sent for preparation in mid-June 1995.

In April 2005, the museum applied to the Governor for the allocation of the skin from a polar bear cub that had been euthanized in Van Mijenfjorden the year before. The polar bear cub had been injured in the foot and was euthanized under the auspices of the Governor. It weighed 18 kg. In their application, the museum stated that the polar bear cub they had previously needed refurbishment and renewal if it were to be included in the new exhibition under development in Forksningsparken. They were allocated the skin in April 2005. The deceased polar bear cub had been frozen whole at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø. The museum employed the company Naturexpo for the stuffing. The cub had a metal ring mounted around its head and was missing a piece of its right front paw. It is displayed in the museum's exhibition near the trapping cabin.

An article in Svalbardposten in 2021 documented 17 stuffed polar bears in Longyearbyen, which was referred to as a "polar bear capital" in that context. It's unlikely that any other city has as many stuffed polar bears per capita.