Mark Thiessen and Patrick Whittle, Associated Press Published Wednesday, January 18, 2023 3:48 PM EST Last updated Wednesday, January 18, 2023 10:40 PM EST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear chased several residents around a small, isolated Native Alaskan 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 injury, the first in more than 30 years in Alaska, occurred Tuesday near the main entrance of a school in Wells, an isolated coastal community in the Bering Strait located on the westernmost tip of the North American mainland — about 50 miles (80 kilometers). ) from Russia – this is no stranger to coexistence with polar bears.
School officials had people rush 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.
“The bear tried to come in with them,” Neja said, but Principal Dawn Hendrickson “slammed the door” to keep her out.
“It’s terrifying. It’s not something you’re ever prepared for,” said Neja, who did not return messages to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
School district officials pulled the shades at the school and locked down the building. Eventually, they realized they needed someone to “take care of the bear.”
Summer Miomik of St. Michael and her son, Clyde Ongtowasruk, were killed in the attack, Alaska State Police said in a statement.
Miomik’s parents declined interviews with The Associated Press when reached at their home Wednesday.
“It’s very, very sad for St. Michael and Wells right now,” said Virginia Washington, St. Michael’s city administrator. She said Myomick splits time between the two communities.
“She was a very nice lady. She was very responsible,” Washington said.
Like many remote villages in Alaska, the mostly Inupiaq community of about 150 people in Wells has organized patrols when the bears are expected in town, roughly from December to May, said Jeff York, senior director of conservation for Polar Bear International. The last fatal polar bear encounter in Alaska was in 1990.
Bad weather and a lack of lights at the gravel track in Wales prevented troopers and wildlife officers from traveling there on Tuesday to investigate the attack, but they were able to on Wednesday. An investigation showed that Myomick and Ongtowasruk were walking between the school and the clinic when the bear attacked them, according to a statement from state officials.
The remains of the mother and son have been transported for an autopsy to the State Forensic Medicine, the police added.
When asked to describe the mood in Wells on Wednesday, Hendrickson, the school’s principal, called it “traumatic.” Classes were canceled and counselors were provided.
She said there have been no reports yet of memorials for the two victims. “We’re still in the early stages,” said Hendrickson, who spoke to the AP earlier in the day but did not elaborate on the polar bear’s attempt to break into the school.
It’s unclear whether the attack is related to climate change, but it’s consistent with what’s expected as the Arctic continues to warm, altering the ecosystem in ways that aren’t yet fully understood, York said.
This particular bear, however, is a member of a population that is doing quite well, said Andrew Desrocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and an expert on polar bears.
Alaskan scientists from the US Geological Survey found in 2019 that changes in sea ice habitat coincided with evidence that land use by polar bears was increasing and that the chances of encountering a polar bear had increased.
Wells 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 snowmobile access to other communities and livelihoods. ATVs are used for non-winter hunting and fishing.
Polar bears are the largest species of bear, according to the US 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 usually feed on seals, but also prey on walruses and beluga whales.
Polar bears were listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act in 2008. They are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Both laws prohibit harming animals without a permit 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 encounters with polar bears usually involve young bears, usually males, who are hungry all the time, or older bears who are injured or sick and have difficulty getting enough calories.
“Both species of bear are more willing to take risks, as we’ve seen here in Wales,” Yorke said.
Unlike brown or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate during the winter. Only pregnant females enter snow dens and only for breeding.
All other polar bears are outdoors, usually on sea ice, where their prey is available year-round.
The Alaska Nannut Cooperative Management Council, which was created to represent “the collective voice of Alaska Natives in the co-management of polar bears,” says on its website that polar bears near or entering villages pose ongoing concerns for the safety of communities in polar bear territory.
Joseph Jessup McDermott, executive director of the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, which represents tribes that have hunted polar bears for a living, said the bear patrol in Wales is “not active right now” because it “essentially lost the funding that had”. The organization is working with the World Wildlife Fund and other partners to restore the patrol program, McDermott said.
The bear is from a population in the Chukchi Sea that is doing well in the face of climate change, Desrocher said. This means that the attack may be the result of a bear attracted to attractants such as food or garbage.
Polar bears from the southern Beaufort Sea, east of the Chukchi Sea population, are in worse shape, Desrocher said.
In this case, although 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 the polar bears.
—
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
Add Comment