1-Year-Old Baby and Mother Killed in Polar Bear Attack in Alaska, USA

Polar bear shot by village residents
First human casualty from bear attack in 30 years

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] In a small remote village in Alaska, USA, a one-year-old boy and his mother were killed in a polar bear attack.

According to AP News and CNN on the 18th (local time), the victims, Summer Maiomic (24) and her son Clyde Ungtuwazruk (1), were attacked by a polar bear at 2:30 PM in the coastal village of Wales at the western tip of Alaska. They were reportedly moving between the village hospital and school when the incident occurred. The polar bear was later shot dead by villagers.

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AP News reported that the polar bear also tried to enter the school building. When school officials who spotted the bear hurriedly tried to evacuate people inside the building, the bear attempted to follow them in. Fortunately, the principal quickly closed the door, preventing the bear from entering the school.

Wales, a small village with about 150 residents, is located on the Bering Strait and is only about 80 km away from Russia, making coexistence with polar bears possible. However, this is the first fatal polar bear attack in Alaska in about 30 years since 1990.

Experts say this incident is very unusual because polar bears typically live far from human settlements in the sea during the winter. Unlike brown bears or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate, and only pregnant females enter snow dens. Polar bears are the largest species of bears, with males generally weighing between 272 and 544 kg, sometimes exceeding 771 kg, and reaching lengths of up to 3 meters.

Polar bears usually feed on seals but also prey on walruses and beluga whales. However, when food is scarce, they may attack humans, so some Alaskan villages organize patrols to prepare for polar bear attacks.

In the United States, polar bears have been designated as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act since 2008 and are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Both laws prohibit harming polar bears without approval except when necessary for human safety.

According to a 2017 study published by the nonprofit organization The Wildlife Society, reports of polar bears attacking humans are extremely rare. From 1870 to 2014, there were 73 incidents of polar bears attacking people across five polar bear habitats (USA, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia), resulting in 20 deaths and 63 injuries.

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