ALASKA (AP).- A polar bear chased several residents in a small, isolated Alaska Native whaling townkilling a woman and her 1 year old baby in an “extremely unusual” attack before another community member shot the bear to death, according to authorities.
The attack occurred yesterday near Wales, an isolated coastal community on the Bering Strait located in the western tip of Alaska – about 80 kilometers from Russia -, where it is common to coexist with polar bears.
The Alaska State Patrol identified the victims as Summer Myomick, 24, of Saint Michael, and their 1-year-old son Clyde Ongtowasruk.
The agency AP contacted Myomick’s parents today, who declined to be interviewed.
“These are very, very sad times for Saint Michael and Wales.said Virginia Washington, the Saint Michael city manager, adding that Myomick spent time in the two communities.
“She was a very sweet young woman, she was very responsible,” Washington said.
Like many remote Alaskan villages, This predominantly Inupiaq community of about 150 people organizes patrols when bears are expected to arrivefrom July to early November, before the sea ice forms and the bears come out onto the frozen landscape to hunt for seals.
This makes what happened this week almost unheard ofBecause polar bears are often far away on the ice in the dead of winter and not close to villages, said Geoff York, senior director of conservation for Polar Bear International. The last fatal encounter with a polar bear in Alaska occurred in 1990.
“He would have been walking around the Welsh community probably without any (bear) deterrents because historically it’s the time of year that’s safe,” said York, who has decades of experience studying polar bears. “You don’t expect to see bears because they would be out on the sea ice hunting seals and doing their thing.”
Bad weather and a lack of landing lights on the runway at Wales airfield prevented patrol boats and wildlife officials from reaching Wales yesterday after the attack. New attempts were made today.
When asked to describe the atmosphere in Wales today, Dawn Hendrickson, The school director described it as “traumatic.” Classes were canceled one day after the attack. “Students are with their families,” he said.. The school made advisors available to the students.
He added that no arrangements for the victims’ funerals have been disclosed. “At the moment there is nothing,” she declared. “We are still in the initial phase.”
No it is clear if this attack was related to climate changebut it is consistent with what is expected as the Arctic continues to warm four times faster than the rest of the Earth, changing the ecosystem in ways that are not yet fully understood, York said. However, this particular bear is a member of a population that is doing quite well, said Andrew Derocher, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and expert on polar bears.
Los polar bears are the largest bear species, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Males can weigh more than 770 kilos, but usually weigh between 270 and 545 kilos and reach 3 meters in length. Females weigh between 180 and 317 kilograms. The polar bears They usually feed on seals, but also on walruses and belugas.
The polar bears they are at the top of the food chain and see humans as a source of food, York said. Deadly encounters with polar bears often involve males that are hungry all the time, or older bears that are injured or sick and have a hard time eating enough calories, she wrote in a report.
Unlike brown or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate.. Only pregnant females go into snow burrows, and that’s only to breed.
All other polar bears are outdoors, usually on the sea ice, where their prey is available year-round.
THE NATION