WALES, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear has attacked and killed two people in a remote village in western Alaska, according to state troopers.
Alaska State Troopers said they received the report of the attack at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wales, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula, KTUU reported.
“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents,” troopers wrote. “The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male."
The bear was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the pair, troopers said.
The names of the the two people killed were not released. Troopers said they were working to notify family members.
Troopers and the state Department of Fish and Game are planning to travel to Wales once weather allows for it, the dispatch said.
Wales is a small, predominantly Inupiaq town of about 150 people, just over 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Nome.
Fatal polar bear attacks have been rare in Alaska's recent history. In 1990, a polar bear killed a man farther north of Wales in the village of Point Lay. Biologists later said the animal showed signs of starvation, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
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.
-
Marion County inmate charged after battering cellmate over "farting" noise
Dametric Gaddis, a 33-year-old inmate at the Adult Detention Center in Indy, is charged with battery and criminal confinement after he allegedly attacked another inmate in his cell.Meet the man cycling across United States with his cat, Marilyn Monroad
Caleb Werntz and his cat Marilyn Monroad are in the middle of a cross-country trip from Oregon to the Carolinas.Musician Lisa Loeb says acoustic guitar was stolen outside Conrad Hotel in Indy
Loeb, who performed Monday night at the new Hendricks Live! venue in Plainfield, says her guitar was stolen in its pink and red soft case from the Conrad Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.Can your landlord force you to use their internet and TV provider?
Renters in apartment and mobile home complexes are learning they have to switch to the landlords' internet provider. What are their rights?