A mother and son were killed by a polar bear in Alaska. Dr. Steven Amstrup, a chief scientist at Polar Bears International, says the melting of sea ice and absence of food is leaving polar bears malnourished and may be bringing the bears into close proximity with humans.
FORT SEVERN, Ont. – A man is recovering from serious injuries after lunging onto a polar bear to protect his wife from an attack.
The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service said the incident happened Tuesday in the area of the Fort Severn First Nation, located in northern Ontario.
Police originally responded to the area after receiving reports of gunfire and discovered the chaotic scene.
An investigation revealed that the couple was looking for their dogs when the polar bear appeared out of nowhere and lunged at the woman.
The woman’s husband leaped onto the bear in an attempt to protect her and sustained serious injuries.
Police said the attack ended when their neighbor arrived with a firearm and shot the animal multiple times.
Hunting polar bear (Ursus maritimus) running over drift ice / ice floe in the Arctic Ocean along the Svalbard coast, Spitsbergen, Norway.
(Photo by: Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The man was said to be receiving treatment at a community nursing station for injuries to his arms and legs.
The bear was later found deceased not far away in the woods.
Polar bear attacks are considered to be rare, according to data compiled by the Wildlife Society.
In a previously issued bulletin, the society documented only 73 attacks between 1870 and 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States.
These incidents resulted in 20 fatalities and 63 injuries to humans, most of which were attributed to the animal’s defense of cubs.
“Increased concern for both human and bear safety is warranted in light of predictions of increased numbers of nutritionally stressed bears spending longer amounts of time on land near people because of the loss of their sea ice habitat,” the society stated.
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Police said they are continuing to patrol the area to ensure no other bears are a threat to the community.
The polar bear population is estimated to be around 16,000 in Canada, which is more than 60% of the world’s population.
The bears are said to be most active during the day and have a keen sense of smell.
Police did not state what they believe to have triggered the attack in the rural region of northern Canada.