Regulation No. 5 on the capture and protection of polar bears.

The present regulation of the Government of Greenland sets out detailed rules on the capture, protection, and tourism related to polar bears. It establishes seasonal and geographical protection periods, prohibits disturbance (including use of drones), and allows hunting only under a licensed quota system determined annually based on scientific advice and international obligations. Licenses are personal, valid for one bear per year, and cannot be sold or transferred. The regulation specifies lawful hunting methods (rifle only, minimum caliber .30-06), bans sale or use of illegally caught bears, and requires all catches—including emergency killings—to be reported, registered, and biologically sampled. It also regulates the handling and trade of bear parts, outlines procedures for “problem bears” near settlements, and allows limited exemptions for research. Violations can result in fines and confiscation.
This regulation largely continues the framework of the 2018 rules but introduces several changes: it expands the scope to cover tourism without hunting and sets minimum distance requirements; it introduces a year-round ban on hunting in Southeast Greenland; it provides clearer definitions (e.g. “problem bears,” “inhabited area”); it strengthens provisions on licensing (explicit ban on trophy/paid hunts and transfer of licenses); it regulates use of technology more strictly (ban on drones also in tourism); it allows municipalities to adopt local rules on sharing catches; it clarifies how polar bears taken in self-defense or as problem animals are allocated; and it specifies that biological samples must be provided after every hunt.