That's really tragic. I'm not sure, since the article doesn't mention it, but the bear was probably looking for food. Here in Manitoba, we have Churchill which is known as the polar bear capital of the world. You can see polar bears digging through trash and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

I’m not experienced with polar bears, but I do live in an area with a lot of black bears. Almost every time one comes into a town it’s found digging through a dumpster with food in it.

Isn't that the town where you have to keep all cars unlocked incase someone needs to get away from a bear?

That's the one!

Tragic for both humans and the bear.

Pretty sure polar bears are the most dangerous land animals a person can encounter.

Sure but it's a different situation with polar bears, who rely on getting out on the sea ice to hunt their main sources of food. With global warming, they are literally starving.

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Ya, black bears are just lazy jerks sometimes :).

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Polar bears are categorized as marine mammals, so i’d count them as the most dangerous on land AND sea

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I have questions (which you may or may not be able to answer):

• Is petty, car-related crime like radio theft a problem there?

• At what level of "persistent threat of polar bear attack" do (or should) area residents recognize a problem that is probably best resolved by ceding the land back to the local (huge and predatory) wildlife?

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Another side effect of climate change. Apex predators suffer, will become more desperate and seek out lesser preferred food sources. Apocalypse: predators turn on humans is a new, interesting fear

Well, for a start:

• The World Wildlife Fund

• The US government's Marine Mammal Commission

• The National Wildlife Federation

• The journal Nature

• The University of Alaska

Edit:

Oh, and their scientific name is Ursus maritimus, which literally means "bear of the sea".

Or maybe just feed them outside of town?

Or sitting the herd for the good of the rest. Like I seriously mean responsibly doing it not talking about just destroying the polar bears.

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Oh silly humans don't cede shit. If anything the question is how long until they get culled

They're classified as a vulnerable species with rapidly-dwindling habitat; I don't think culling the population is any kind of solution.

Some of them enlisted to fight the commies.

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I guess that it’s so remote the community is so small that living out there requires trust and cooperation.

> trust and cooperation

Sorry, I'm American; can you translate that from Canadian for me?

Oh okay. Bummer.

“Well what you got there son is a wild liberal on the loose. I don’t blame ya if you wanna try to shoot it, not at all. What we do round here is leave our cars unlocked in case that liberal gets too vicious. We can all hear your cries for help so don’t bother tryna steal anything cause we’ll know who done it. They call that trust and cooperation round here.”

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Thin out their numbers 🔥

Everyone knows everyone in these communities and it's not like people can just drive a town over to them.

You'd be more likely to have someone find a spare and install without asking you.

I must be missing something cus I don't see bears there lol

Look in the too scared to fight category

Black Bears are not as aggressive as Polar Bears. If they attack you it's most likely either starving to death or protecting cubs. Not saying you should feel safe dancing in your knickers in front of one but you are much more likely to have a polar bear rip your face off if it sees you than a Black Bear which will most likely just waddle off into the woods giving you passive aggressive looks over it's shoulder.

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If it is brown, lie down. If it is black, fight back. If it is white, goodnight.

Holds true.

Lol why do people always underestimate swans?

Same category as a cat and a parrot...

Bummer that they're dying off or a bummer you don't get to shoot them?

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Lol "It'd be close" with a dolphin?! Are they picturing fighting them on land? There's no way a human could even come close to defeating them in water.

Don’t they mean, humans entered Polar Bear territory and was fatally mauled, ie polar Bears was there first.

Yep, Polar Bears have to eat, if the human invade there territory and eat all there food, what else do they expect.

Polar bear just doing polar bear shit.

Attacks in defense of their cubs are actually fairly rare--black bears are more apt to chase their cubs up a tree and then stand their ground.

Black bear attacks tend to be predation or defending a food source--which is why if attacked by a black bear, you must fight back with everything you've got.

Grizzly bears are more aggressive, so they do tend to attack for defensive reasons, but in that case, the best defensive action is to play dead.

I think people would consider a dolphin attacking them close to shore--and for better or worse, dolphins don't really have an aggressive reputation among the public.

I don't know of anyone who is afraid of a dolphin--not even someone who is afraid of an orca--but people are afraid of sharks.

I have swam and dived with pods of dolphins. Many times . I am weary as fuck of dolphins. Sure... Awesome sentient beings... Friendly, playful and inquisitive yet at the end of the day they are fucking Apex Predators. I have seen three dolphins kill a 4 meter tiger shark before...

Damn DEATH-BY-AwesomeBrainPowers

I've heard if the bear is Black, attack. if Brown, lay down. White, goodnight.

This is in a very rural part of alaska, chances are these two were alaska native and their people have been here just as long as polar bears.

The nihilistic take when humans die to animals is really fucking dumb. A mother and child were eaten alive, that is fucking horrifying.

Hopefully they blasted it straight to hell.

Swans aren't very dangerous. The whole "a swan can break a man's arm" thing is a total myth.

>You may be left with someone bruising if you’re the target of their feathered frenzy, but since swan bones are much thinner than that of a human (and hollow) they would be hard-pressed to do any lasting damage. Some bird experts suggest that it’s more likely a swan would hurt itself if its attack was so intense.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/07/can-swan-break-arm-7448795/

Pretty lame. Bear spray works on all mammals

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God that list is so wrong it hurts. They think they can beat swans or peacocks. Or that they have a 50 50 against goats. Lol fucking city dwellers that never seen what an angry goat can do. But the biggest joke is zebra, they can one tap lions and whoever made this list thinks they have a chance.

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well i know dolphins can bludgeon sharks to death so that seems plenty aggressive to me.

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While we're on the discussion, I'm a very physically fit blue collar worker, and I'm am one hundred percent confident in my ability to kill a swan with my bare hands. I think I could also beat a goat in 6-8 fights out of 10.

A goat can break most of bones in your body with a single head but. If it hits your skull your out dead. It's horns are sharp if it's a bigger bread they might weigh more than you and they hoofs are very sharp. They got mad jumps as well and they have more crack head engery than most of Frankfurt and the stamina to boot.

Swans are more harmless they can't hurt you to bad, but they are aggressiv and have 0 respect for anything. They are what geese think they are.

Sure they won't kill you but the average person is probably gona panic when upwards of 10 kg of agnry feathers are in your face. In a death cage match sure I give it you in their naturalhabit where it's more likely the swan takes it low to medium diff.

Peacocks may look harmless but they got every sharp murder claws the reason you see them in zoos they are fairly gentle creatures and their claws get trimed.

Another 50 50 you would lose 100%or the time is cows I hope I don't need to elaborate.

Fucking city people./s

Never fucked around with a peacock which is why I didn't say anything about them in my first comment. I've also worked with plenty of farm animals and I have no doubt a cow would stomp my shit in. But I still stand by my ability to kill a goat, I've delt with them plenty before and if you're smart they're not too big of a problem.

The average fat ass American would likely have a problem taking on a goat though.

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And I have seen plenty of people be very hurt and kids hospilitased by goats which is why I know the AVRAGE person will go down. If you know how to deal with an animal are somewhat fit and have solid clothes sure, then you can deal with alot more animals Ina fight but then you aren't the average person in an average situation.

Yes, as I stated in my first comment I am not a child.

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The bear was hungry I'm sure. Bless them, all of them.

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polar bears are uniquely scary

You are severely underestimating human ability in fighting for their life lol, zebras and cows and other large animals sure but doubting human victory against a swan or a peacock or a goat? Got another thing coming lol

And bear spray still works. Polar bears are the only ones I've ever been around so I can't compare.

Do people steal car radios anymore? Can you even remove the radios in New cars like the old ones?

In the post you are replying to I said the cage death match the human is winning. In the wild in an AVRAGE natural encounter against the AVRAGE PERSON the animal takes it. If you seen how they can mess someone up or have ever been attacked by a swan you would agree.

Animal are very dangerous even most of the fluffy ones. We didn't genocide them in 1v1s but with weapons big pointy sticks and their was a lot of us like way way way more.

They don't. I Googled it some years back. Here's an article from 2009 on the topic: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101998015

Let me get a thumb in that blowhole and let's see what's up.

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You think they're response is dumb? Yet you want the polar bear to go to hell?? 🤨

Hippopotamus kill 500 hundred people every year

It got me wondering if there's an old-school car stereo community. Yeah, it looks like there is.

People have been in the Seward Peninsula for 30,000 years.

Polar Bears probably a lot longer. But if you live along side wild animals, it’s obvious things like that will happen. I bet more polar bears have been killed by humans, that humans have been killed by polar Bears.

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“Now see here, sharing a resource for the safety and common good of the community’s inhabitants sounds like that there commusocialisms that Tucker told me was the devil in between cash for gold ads and bemoaning the loss of the Snickers dick vein! What if onna them gays or a brown person needs to escape from a polar bear? No siree, no thank you. We ain’t doin that. I’d rather be eviscerated, you know, to own the libs!”

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lol no it doesn't all the time. At the Suncor gas plant in Alberta a few years back someone was literally trying to spray the bear point blank while it attacked someone and it didn't scare the bear off.

Swans or peacocks? I would put those things as soon as they got close to me

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Where do you live that didn’t have wild animals there first ?

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I have fought off a swan that attacked me, i didn't want to kill it so i ran away. If it would have been a fight to death i easily would have killed it.

You've played too much d&d and have lost touch with reality if you think a swan kills the average human.

Also not saying everyone can do this but there are people that were facing death and have killed sharks, bears and various big cats.

Adrenaline rush is crazy.

their* and its an expression.

Carnivores that kill humans for prey should be put down. Not out of revenge but to prevent them from associating humans as a food source.

I think they do that in most villages in Alaska where Polar Bears wonder into town. They did this in Utqiagvik where I was based for a few months

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Last thing I'd do if a grizzly lurching towards me is lay down. I'd just walk away backwards or climb a tree and cut it if it tries to climb

I know you’re being downvoted to hell but I totally agree. Bears just doing bear things. It’s really sad that it happened but this is what happens when we not only encroach on their territory but also allow their habitat to shrink so much.

I don’t get why humans put their lives so much higher than other species. If a bear kills a different animal it’s nature but if they kill a human it’s a tragedy.

Hope the bear isn’t killed.

Humans aren’t more important than animals. In fact, we are just other animals that are aware of the concept of self. It’s the food chain. Is it sad? Yes. But it’s nature. Maybe if we didn’t encroach on their territory at the same time as destroying their natural habitat this wouldn’t happen. Bears just being a bear.

I’ll go on record and say If a bear kills and eats me, let him live and chill. His life is just as important.

Fun fact: polar bears are actually marine mammals as they spend most of their time in/on water!

This is pretty standard in rural Alaska as well it's not just a Canadian thing. When the weather can kill you and you know most of the people around you people in general are very willing to help.

You can’t run, you can’t wait for back up, sometimes the only way to survive is to attack with restless abandon. It’ll probably fuck you up, but you never know, animals will sometimes give up if the meal isn’t worth the cost of the fight. However if it’s hungry, your most likely fucked, but at least you’ll have died so another living creature can survive. Plus you’ll become bear poop, and being bear poop is so fetch.

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This is going to become a lot more prevalent and will likely end with humanity killing them off because we are “above the food chain”.

Yep, obviously the people that have down voted are pretty ignorant of nature, after all, the polar Bear has only killed another predator.

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There isn’t a place on earth. Polar Bears have to eat, if you are unfortunate enough to be in its sights, then you could end up being it’s next meal, that’s nature.

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Bears in general are scavengers so it's not unusual to see them snooping through garbage. What sucks is when people leave their garbage out so bears get at it.

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I didn’t know that. Interesting.

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"ceding the land back", well the indigenous people who have lived there for 1000's of years might have something to say about that. We are part of nature, not somehow above it, and we don't have to apologize for merely existing.

Fellow Manitoban...one of the more interesting bear related stories I've seen over the last few years if the re-establishment of Grizzly bears in Northern MB. Was another great story about how the polar bears around Hudson bay are learning to hunt beluga whales!

Thumb isn't girthy enough to plug it, is there another option?

I can think of something ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

Exactly. If we are hungry we go kill an animal to eat it so we don’t starve. The bear did the same thing. It’s not it’s fault that the only thing available to it was this woman and a child. We’ve been saying for years if we don’t get climate change and expansion under control then eventually this was gonna happen. Now it does and people are shocked. It’s ridiculous

The absence of hippos in the most dangerous tier makes me doubt the veracity of this list. Also seems like cows and zebras are being underestimated, and cheetahs are probably being overestimated.

Source: wild guesswork and armchair zoology.

Is there a Trust and Cooperation, Alaska like there’s a Truth or Consequence, New Mexico?

They don't call it a blowhole for nothing.

I think the saying is "if black fight back". You should never attack a black bear minding it's own business lol.

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I live in an area with alligators, salt water crocodiles (unconfirmed sightings in my area but definitely present a couple hundred miles South of me), wild hogs that WILL fuck you up, five species of venomous snakes, and Bull Sharks in the river behind my house. I respect all of them, but I don't fear them, and I've lived in close proximity to them for decades with no issues or bad incidents.

Bears in general give me the heebie jeebies, and Polar Bears in particular scare the absolute shit out of me. I can't imagine living in an area with Polar Bears. I don't think I'd ever get a good night's sleep if I did.

Dolphins are the humans of the sea.

Meaning you SHOULD be at least mildly nervous at all times around them, I would say. I think some dolphins have been shown to kill just for fun too, another human analogy there.

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Uh yeah. I am aware of how nature works and I certainly don’t begrudge the bear for doing what is natural especially in light of the unnatural climate man has created .

Perhaps I am mistaken but your comment that the humans entered where the polar bears were there first in reference to the sad deaths of an indigenous mother and child struck me as judgmental , patronizing and just unnecessary victim blaming .

Why throw stones from afar ? If you want to blame someone pick on Exxon or the moron who says that climate change is a Chinese hoax . W It’s not like the mother and child climbed into a cage at the zoo .

If it helps- source - I work with endangered species / and invasive species

This is unquestionably true and as ecosystems collapse we will see more unusual predation even amongst people and species who don’t live in places where by definition inhabitants must adapt and work with the natural world .

Starving animals and people do unusual things.

Smug much ?

I would bet my arm that the mother who was eaten with her child was more aware of and in tune with nature, bears predation etc then someone who mocks their death on keyboard as if humans are somehow entirely distinct from the natural world .

Sorry if it sounded judgmental, it wasn’t supposed to be, but yes I do agree that because of the climate, with the areas shrinking, that is bringing the polar bears into closer contact with human.

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We destroyed their natural habit and were tasty. Not exactly a surprise.

What I want to know is why the bear wondered in- is there a problem with its primary food source?

I feel like Orcas should get that nod. Slicing out shark livers and dumping the rest of the body, passing on cultural memes to learn how to hunt their surrounding wild life... freaky smart and right up there with dolphins.

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Also “it’d be close, but I’d win” with a viper?! Sorry pal, it wouldn’t be close, and you wouldn’t win.

look man all I'm saying is a polar bear would look god in the eye and wonder what he tastes like first and foremost

Apparently it does still happen sometimes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/10exeqm/someone_broke_into_my_car_but_then_they_just_had/

Its pretty much standard wildlife conservation 101 with predators that any predator that kills humans and eats them is likely to do it again. Your feelings about leaving the bear be would not matter because not doing anything would put other people, vulnerable people in danger. The people who go to school and spend their careers studying and protecting these animals are the same ones who make the calls to euthanize them when this happens. Just because you empathize with the bear doesnt change how the Biologists with Fish and Game operate.

Orcas ARE dolphins, no? Or at least in the dolphin family?

Fun fact: this village - Wales - doesn’t have any cars.

It’s only accessible by plane/helicopter, boat or snowmobile in the winter.

>Also not saying everyone can do this but there are people that were facing death and have killed sharks, bears and various big cats.

It's more, I would say, laughing at the absurdity of the confidence and certainty. Sure, people have had exceptional outcomes in life or death situations (though with the sorts of ones you mention, they are more often matters of dissuading the attacker from continuing, especially since sharks and big cats often don't want to get into protracted fights).

But a cow of the sort shown in that list is probably going to weigh around 600 kg, and bulls, when angry, are extremely dangerous; probably more dangerous than a horse. Even with horses, control of a horse as an individual is based, ultimately, on it deciding to do what you ask it to do; they tend to be most dangerous, and can easily accidentally kill someone, when they are panicking. Meanwhile, seals can be much heavier and more agile than they seem when seen out of water. These are not "50/50 chance" situations. And with sheep in some "I'd have no problem" category: a friend of mine who works with animals points out with annoyance that people unaccustomed to livestock often joke to her with confidence and bluster about what they'd do if a ram tried to attack them: she points out that, no, if a fully grown ram wants to fight them, that would probably go very differently than they expect.

If anything, the list is both hilarious and annoying in how it seems to be entirely built around stereotypical perceptions of animals as 'cute', 'violent', 'giant', 'tiny', and so on, without it necessarily making much sense. Trying to fight a cow or a zebra is probably going to be much more dangerous than trying to fight a cheetah, the reverse of what the list suggests people think, because cheetahs are comparatively small, skittish ambush predators that are going to run away from a fight. There's often just a complete misunderstanding of the weight and strength of seemingly cute domestic animals. And while it's presumably there to be completely ridiculous, you're not going to lose a fight with a large baleen whale, because a large baleen whale is not going to get into a fight with you.

But in general, there's a weird obsession of people about how they could beat up animals.

If it's white say goodnight. You need magnum loads to even harm these walking tanks.

I knew I would get something wrong in there but yes, unprovoked attacks on bears are certainly a bad for everyone involved.

Is there even a home in Alaska that is polar bear proof?

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What if the bear can drive too?

Speaking of taking white magnum loads, your mom says hi.

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In Svalbard it's basically compulsory to carry a rifle around with you.

Hate to break it to you but I know first hand that that is not “wildlife conservation 101”. First thing they do is relocate, far away from any civilization. They want the bear to live, especially when the animal is endangered. At the same time factors that led to the incident are addressed as best as they can be. In this case that would be difficult. Only as a last resort are they euthanized. If you’d actually like to learn anything, there’s actually a lot of good resources available with the WCS.

We also aren’t talking about some downtown suburbs. It’s a remote Alaskan village. There’s an entirely different set of circumstances.

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Seeing a lot of confusion in this thread ^just ^like ^I ^did ^last ^time ^there ^was ^a ^bear ^attack ^in ^Alaska, so:

1. The bear was a starving juvenile. It had chased several people already before attacking a mother and child.

2. It was shot dead by a local as it was attacking the pair. The local was attempting to save the family.

3. This occurred on the Seward Peninsula in a very small village. It's in northwest Alaska off the Chukchi Sea, which is where you'll find the Bering Strait. Polar bears are not found in the interior or the south. 99.9% of Alaskans do not have to worry about Polar bears because you're only going to find them on the very edges of the northwestern and western coasts, and even the people that live in those areas are unlikely to have to deal with bears too often. The only reason they are now is because climate change is forcing them to look for food further inland.

4. If you are in the incredibly, insanely off chance situation of getting attacked by a polar bear, your choices: A. Hope you're already carrying either bear spray or a gun B. If those don't work, look for shelter; a car, a house, etc. C. Try dropping objects, clothing, or food behind you to district the bear. D. If you are out in the middle of nowhere, keep running until the bear catches up, fight back when applicable, and then rest in peace because I don't have any other suggestions. We really don't have a lot of info on how to deal with polar bears because generally speaking, human civilization and polar bear habitats don't overlap all that much.