Polar bear kills woman and her child in Wales

By Diana Haecker

A woman and a boy were killed by a polar bear in Wales, on Tuesday, January 17. Alaska State Troopers identified the mauling victims as 24-year-old Saint Michael resident Summer Myomick and her 1-year-old son Clyde Ongtowasruk.

Alaska State Troopers received a report on Tuesday afternoon that a polar bear had entered Wales and had chased several residents before attacking the woman and the child. The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male  and was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the pair, the trooper dispatch said.

Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game were working on travel to Wales but could not make it to Wales due to  poor weather conditions and the lack of runway lights in Wales, AST spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email. Region 5 Supervisor Tony Gorn with the Nome ADF&G office said in a brief phone call with the Nugget on Tuesday night that his office was very busy gathering information. “We won’t know anything further until 24 hours from now,” Gorn said.

Troopers didn’t specify why ADF&G rather than U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency managing polar bears, was called to respond.