ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear chased several residents around a tiny, isolated Alaska Native whaling village, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son in an extremely rare attack before another community member shot and killed the bear, authorities said.
The fatal mauling, the first in more than 30 years in Alaska, happened Tuesday next to the front entrance of the school in Wales, an isolated Bering Strait coastal community located on the westernmost tip of the North American mainland — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Russia — that is no stranger to coexisting with polar bears.
School officials rushed people into the building after the polar bear was spotted, Bering Strait School District chief administrator Susan Nedza told the Anchorage Daily News from her office in Unalakleet.
Other news
Groups working to round up domesticated rabbits that have been running loose in Florida neighborhood
Efforts are underway to rescue the domesticated rabbits that have populated a Florida neighborhood. Rescue groups are using traps, hands and sometimes nets to capture the 60 to 100 lionhead rabbits living in a community near Fort Lauderdale.
Arizona woman injured in Yellowstone bison attack says ‘yes’ to boyfriend’s hospital proposal
An Arizona woman who suffered spinal fractures and collapsed lungs after being gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park has said “yes” to her boyfriend’s hospital proposal.
Swiss order hang gliders to stay away, closing air space as firefighters battle forest inferno
Swiss authorities have temporarily shut the airspace over a small part of southwestern Switzerland because recreational gliders in the area have endangered the work of emergency teams battling a persistent forest fire.
A notorious Indonesian animal market has ended its brutal dog and cat meat trade, campaigners say
Years after groups call for shutdown of brutal Indonesian animal markets where dogs and cats are bludgeoned by thousands and blow-torched alive, their campaigns are beginning to pay off.
“The bear tried to enter with them,” Nedza said, but Principal Dawn Hendrickson “slammed the door” to keep it out.
“It’s terrifying. Not something you’re ever prepared for,” said Nedza, who didn’t return messages to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
School district officials pulled the shades in the school and locked down the building. They eventually got word out that they needed someone to “take care of the bear.”
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 interviews with The Associated Press when reached Wednesday at their home.
“It’s very, very sad for Saint Michael right now, and Wales,” said Virginia Washington, the Saint Michael city administrator. She said Myomick split time between the two communities.
“She was a very sweet lady. She was very responsible,” Washington said.
Like many far-flung Alaska villages, the predominantly Inupiaq community of roughly 150 people in Wales has organized patrols when the bears are expected in town, from roughly December to May, said Geoff York, the senior director of conservation at Polar Bear International. The last fatal polar bear encounter in Alaska was in 1990.
Poor weather and no runway lights at the Wales gravel air strip prevented troopers and wildlife officials from traveling there Tuesday to investigate the attack, but they made it Wednesday. The investigation showed Myomick and Ongtowasruk were walking between the school and a clinic when the bear attacked them, according to a statement from the state troopers.
The remains of the mother and son were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy, troopers added.
When asked to describe the mood in Wales on Wednesday, Hendrickson, the school principal, called it “traumatic.” Classes were canceled, and counselors were being made available.
She said there have been no announcements for memorials for the two victims yet. “We are still in the beginning phase,” said Hendrickson, who spoke to the AP earlier in the day but didn’t detail the polar bear attempting to breach the school.
It’s unclear if the attack was related to climate change, but it’s consistent with what is expected as the Arctic continues to warm, changing the ecosystem in ways that are still not fully understood, York said.
However, this particular bear was a member of a population that is doing fairly well, said Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and an expert on polar bears.
Alaska scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019 found changes in sea ice habitat had coincided with evidence that polar bears’ use of land was increasing and that the chances of a polar bear encounter had increased.
Wales is just over 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Nome. The community is accessible by plane and boats, including barges that deliver household goods. Winter trails provide access on snowmobiles to other communities and to subsistence hunting grounds. ATVs are used for non-winter hunting and fishing trips.
Polar bears are the largest bear species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Males can weigh more than 1,700 pounds (771 kilograms), but typically weigh 600 to 1,200 pounds (272–544 kilograms) and reach up to 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Females weigh 400 to 700 pounds (181-318 kilograms). Polar bears generally feed on seals but also prey on walruses and beluga whales.
Polar bears were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2008. They are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Both laws prohibit harming the animals without authorization, unless necessary for human safety.
Polar bears are at the top of the food chain, and see humans as a food source, York said. Fatal polar bear encounters usually involve young bears, usually males, who are hungry all the time, or older bears who are injured or ill and having difficulty getting enough calories.
“Both of those bear types are more likely to take risks, like we saw here in Wales,” York said.
Unlike brown or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate in the winter. Only pregnant females enter snow dens, and that’s only for reproduction.
All the other polar bears are out, typically on sea ice where their 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 polar bears near or entering villages represent ongoing safety concerns for communities within polar bear territory.
Joseph Jessup McDermott, executive director of the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, which represents tribes that have hunted polar bears for subsistence, said the bear patrol in Wales “is not currently active” because “it essentially lost what funding it had.” The organization has been working with the World Wildlife Fund and other partners to restore the patrol program, McDermott said.
The bear was from a population in the Chukchi Sea that is faring well amid climate change, Derocher said. That means the attack could be the result of a bear lured by attractants such as food or garbage.
Polar bears of the southern Beaufort Sea, east of the Chukchi Sea population, are in worse shape, Derocher said.
In this case, even though there is ice in the Chukchi and northern Bering seas, the quality of that ice is not well known. More importantly, York said they don’t know what’s going on under the ice — or what the availability of seals and other prey is for polar bears.
___
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
___
This article has been updated to correct York’s statement that bears in Wales are expected from December through May, not July through November.
FAQs
Who was the mother and child killed by the polar bear in Alaska? ›
Summer Myomick and her 1-year-old son, Clyde Ongtowasruk, were mauled to death Jan. 17 as they left the school in Wales for a short walk of about 150 yards to the town's medical clinic.
Did a polar bear attack a mother and son? ›A woman and her 1-year-old son were recently mauled to death by a polar bear in an ultra-rare attack in Alaska. A new report sheds some light on why the tragic event occurred. Last month, a polar bear killed a woman and her 1-year-old child in Alaska.
What happened to the woman attacked by polar bear? ›The bear went on a rampage in the small community of Wales, and a resident fatally shot the polar bear as it attacked the woman and the child, the state Public Safety Department said. The department identified the two people Wednesday as Summer Myomick, 24, of Saint Michael, and her 1-year-old son, Clyde Ongtowasruk.
What do you call a baby polar bear answer key? ›Answer and Explanation:
Like other bears, baby polar bears are called cubs. A polar bear will usually have a litter of two cubs between the months of November and February.
Her parents are Mummy Polar Bear and Doctor Polar Bear, the first lesbian couple in the show. She shares her name with Peppa's Piggy counterpart Penny Piggy.
Did Anana the polar bear have a baby? ›Anana gave birth to one living cub in November 2016. The cub, Ameila Gray, is almost 6 years old and lives at the Oregon Zoo with Nora, who was born to Aurora in November 2015. Anana was one of two female polar bears at the zoo to be artificially inseminated earlier this year.
What is the story of the polar bear son? ›An old Inuit woman takes in a polar bear cub and raises him until others in the village become jealous of the bear's hunting prowess, threatening to kill him. The old woman sends her beloved bear away, but continues to meet him far out on the ice where her polar bear “son” gives her food to eat.
What was the worst polar bear attack? ›On 5 August 2011, a polar bear in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard attacked a party of thirteen university students, who were undertaking an expedition organised by the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), and were camped near the Von Post glacier, 25 miles (40 km) from the settlement of Longyearbyen.
Why did woman jump into polar bear enclosure? ›THE woman who threw herself into a polar bear pit at Berlin zoo had told friends she could not cope with being out of work.
Did a woman jump in the polar bear enclosure in Berlin? ›A woman was rescued after repeated bites from a polar bear in the Berlin Zoo. April 13, 2009 — -- A woman is lucky to be alive today after she jumped a fence Friday at the Berlin Zoo to enter the polar bears' enclosure during feeding time and was subsequently attacked by one of the bears, said one zoo expert.
Is Debby the polar bear still alive? ›
Debby (1966 – November 17, 2008) was a female polar bear, considered by scholars as the world's oldest. She lived in the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg.
What eats a polar bear? › What are female polar bears called? ›Polar Bears and Their Families. Pregnant females polar bears (called sows) build snow dens. Give birth to 1-3 cubs. Cubs are born 12 to 14 inches long and weigh little more than a pound. They are blind, toothless, and covered with short, soft fur.
What are polar babies called? ›Cubs at Birth
long. Males are born slightly larger than females. Polar bear cubs are born small and helpless, with their eyes closed. The fur is very fine at birth, making the cubs look hairless..
NEW YORK — The 11-year-old boy who was killed by two polar bears at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn Tuesday night entered the enclosure on a dare, police said Wednesday. The boy, Juan Perez, and two companions had dared each other to go swimming in the moat bordering the polar bear den.
Who was the guy in Alaska eaten by bears he lived with? ›Timothy Treadwell (born Timothy William Dexter; April 29, 1957 – October 5, 2003) was an American bear enthusiast, environmentalist, documentary filmmaker, and founder of the bear-protection organization Grizzly People.
What couple was killed by bears in Alaska? ›A documentary maker who flew out to Alaska every year to camp with bears ended up being eaten alive along with his girlfriend by one of the animals, in a harrowing story. Timothy 'Grizzly Man' Treadwell was a bear enthusiast and documentary maker.