The squirrel that hunted a bear is no animal fable, but a true story from the far north, above the polar circle…

An AS350 B2 Ecureuil owned by the Norwegian operator Airlift spent several weeks this spring in the polar regions of Spitsbergen. The mission enabled scientists to track and study the polar bear population. “This is the fifteenth consecutive year in which the Norwegian Polar Institute has entrusted us with this task,” relates Airlift marketing manager Erlend Folstad. “As in the previous years, we used an AS350 B2 on account of its exceptional reliability.”
Depending on the geographical location, the helicopter operated out of a base camp on dry land or from a marine research vessel. During each excursion, it carried four people on board: one pilot, one flight engineer and two animal researchers. The aircraft was required to fly at low altitude to allow the scientists to sight the bears and fire darts containing an anaesthetic that would temporarily put them to sleep. The pilot would then land the Ecureuil close to where the animals were lying, allowing the zoologists to collect blood and other biological samples. Since it often had to fly over the ocean, the Ecureuil was equipped with inflatable floats and carried additional communications equipment, a spare battery, and a generator to warm up the engine after a night spent in the open air. During the nights when the aircraft was parked on the ground, it was surrounded by tripwires triggering firecrackers to deter the intrusion of over-inquisitive bears. In Spitsbergen, even the bears find Eurocopter products attractive!