Yesterday, a polar bear attacked and killed two people in a remote village in western Alaska around 2:30 PM, according to the New York Post.
Alaska State Troopers said it all happened in the remote town of Wales, which is on the western tip of the Steward Peninsula.
Troopers wrote:
“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents. The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male.”
The bear was shot and killed as it was attacking the two residents. The names of the victims were not released, and troopers said they were working to notify the victims’ families.
Troopers and the state Department of Fish and Game are planning to travel to Wales to investigate the scene, once the weather improves.
Wales is a tiny, Inupiaq town with a population of around 150 people, and is 100 miles northwest of Nome.
Although not impossible, polar bear attacks are pretty rare in Alaska, as in 1990 one of the creatures killed a man farther north of Wales in the village of Point Lay.
This is absolutely heartbreaking news.
The media tends to portray polar bears as cute creatures, when in reality these creatures can potentially be very aggressive if they feel threatened in some way.
