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A Polar bear injured a foreign tourist on an Arctic island off Norway Thursday, the eve of a total solar eclipse that has drawn thousands of visitors to the remote islands, Reuters reported.

The bear was shot dead, and the man, part of a group of six people who were on a snowscooter and skiing tour and staying in tents, was flown by helicopter to hospital in Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s main settlement, a police spokesman said.

The injuries, to the face and an arm, were not life-threatening, he said. The nationality of the injured man was not yet known. Another person was taken to hospital with frostbite that was unrelated to the bear attack.

The Norwegian Arctic islands of Svalbard, about 1,300 kms from the North Pole, and the Faroe Islands to the south are the only places on land from which viewers will be able to see the moon totally block the sun Friday.