A polar bear attack has killed a mother and her one-year-old child in Alaska. The animal is not rare in Alaska, but polar bears seldom leave the ice for inhabited areas, so the attack is considered unusual.

On Tuesday, 17 January, a large polar bear suddenly entered a residential area of the town of Wales in Alaska and charged at people in the street. Residents ran for their lives and there was chaos in the area. The bear then attacked a mother and her young son, finding them alone in front of a local school. Both were killed, and their bodies were later sent for post-mortem.

The dead were named as Summer Myomick and her son Clyde Ongtowasruk. The bear attacked in front of the Bering Strait School District school in Wales. People who were in the street at the time took shelter inside the school, but Myomick could not get in with her son.

The bear also pushed against the school door, but it was held firmly shut. The animal was later shot dead.

The attack is being described as the first fatal polar bear attack in Alaska in 30 years; the previous death from a polar bear there was in 1990. About 150 people live in the part of Alaska where the bear struck on Tuesday. Settlement is very sparse in this far northern part of North America.

Experts say global warming is driving polar bears into inhabited areas; they normally live out on the ice. Young male bears do sometimes attack people, but this is quite rare. The bear is believed to have come into the town because it could not find food.

The polar bear is an endangered species. Killing one without reason or without permission from the relevant authorities is banned, but in some cases a decision is taken to kill a bear when human life is at risk.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.