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A polar bear chased several residents around a small Alaska Native whaling village, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son in a rare attack before other community members shot and killed the bear, authorities said.
The fatal shooting, the first in more than 30 years in Alaska, happened Tuesday near a school in Wales, a remote Bering Strait coastal community located on the westernmost tip of the North American mainland – about 80 kilometers from Russia – which is unfamiliar. live together with polar bears.
Summer Myomick of Saint Michael and her son, Clyde Ongtowasruk, were killed in the attack, Alaska State Troopers said in a statement.
Myomick’s parents declined an interview with The Associated Press when reached Wednesday at the home.
“It’s very sad for Saint Michael right now, and for Wales,” said Virginia Washington, Saint Michael’s town administrator.
He said Myomick splits his time between the two communities.
“She was a very sweet lady,” Washington said.
1st fatal encounter since 1990
Like many remote Alaskan villages, the Inupiaq community of about 150 people conducts patrols when bears are expected in town, from July to early November, before the sea ice forms and the bears venture out into the frozen landscape to hunt seals. .
That makes this week’s incident almost unheard of because polar bears are usually far out on the ice during winter and not close to villages, said Geoff York, senior conservation director at Polar Bear International, a conservation group. The last polar bear sighting in Alaska was in 1990.
“I’ve always walked around Wales communities, probably without (bears) getting in the way because of the history of the safe time of year,” said York, who has decades of experience studying polar bears. “You don’t expect to run into bears because they will go out in the sea ice hunting seals and doing that thing.”
Bad weather and no runway lights on Wales’ gravel airstrip prevented soldiers and wildlife officials from reaching Wales on Tuesday after the attack. We tried again on Wednesday.
When asked to describe the mood in Wales on Wednesday, Dawn Hendrickson, the school’s principal, called it “traumatic.” Classes are canceled, and counselors are available.
He said there has been no announcement for a memorial for the two victims. “We’re still in the early stages,” he said.
More human/bear interactions are expected
It’s not clear if this attack is related to climate change, but it’s consistent with what’s expected as the Arctic continues to warm four times the rest of the Earth, changing ecosystems in ways that aren’t fully understood, York said.
However, this particular bear is a member of a population that is doing well, said Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and an expert on polar bears.
Alaskan scientists at the US Geological Survey in 2019 found changes in sea ice habitat coincided with evidence that polar bear land use is increasing and the likelihood of encountering polar bears is increasing.
Wales is just over 100 miles northwest of Nome. The community is accessible by plane and boat, including barges that deliver household goods. Winter trails provide snowmobile access to other communities and to subsistence hunting grounds. ATVs are used for non-season hunting and fishing trips.
Polar bears are the largest bear species, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Males can weigh more than 771 pounds, but usually weigh 275-550 pounds and are up to 3 meters long. Females weigh 180-320 pounds. Polar bears mainly eat seals but also prey on walruses and beluga whales.
Polar bears are at the top of the food chain, and see humans as a source of food, York said. Fatal polar bear encounters usually involve young bears, usually males, who are always hungry, or older bears who are injured or ill and have difficulty getting enough calories.
“Both types of bears are more likely to take risks, as we saw in Wales,” York said.
Strange time of year
Unlike brown or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate in winter. Only pregnant women enter the snow hut, and only for reproduction.
All other polar bears go out, mostly on sea ice where prey is available year-round.
The Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, which was created to represent “the collective Alaska Native voice in polar bear co-management,” on its website says that polar bears near or entering villages are a safety concern for communities in polar bear areas.
The group lists several polar bear patrol programs in Alaska, including one for Wales, which it says is seeking funding to maintain operations.
York said the Wales community has long been involved in creating a polar bear patrol program and taking steps to keep polar bears out of their communities.
“This seems to be one of those horrible cases where, despite doing the right thing, we have an incredible amount of bears at a time of year when you wouldn’t expect it to happen,” he said.
A healthy population
The bear is from a population in the Chukchi Sea that has been declining over time, Derocher said. That means the attack could be the result of the bear being pulled by an attractant such as food or garbage.
Polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea, east of the Chukchi Sea population, are faring worse, Derocher said.
In this case, although there is ice in the Chukchi and northern Bering seas, the quality of the ice is unknown. More importantly, York said he doesn’t know what’s going on under the ice — or whether seals and other prey are available to polar bears.
Changes also occur in winter, when people think they are safe from polar bears on the coast.
“Community may not exist anymore,” York said.
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
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