A polar bear killed a woman and child on Tuesday in the remote village of Wales, Alaska.
The bear wandered into the village and started chasing people Tuesday afternoon, according to The Associated Press. A local resident shot and killed the bear after it began mauling the woman and the young boy, but the attack proved fatal for the victims.
Alaska state troopers and members of Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game will travel to Wales once the weather clears enough for them to make the journey, AP reported. The remote village is home to roughly 150 people who are predominantly Inupiaq. It sits just over 100 miles northwest of Nome.
Fatal polar bear attacks are rare, but not unheard of in the region. During winter months, the bears can travel as far south as St. Lawrence Island, and occasionally go further, Anchorage Daily News noted.
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In 1990, a polar bear killed a man in the village of Point Bay, according to the outlet. Three years later, another broke through a window at an Air Force radar station in the same area and seriously mauled a mechanic, who managed to survive the attack. (RELATED: Largest Ever Florida Python Discovered, And The Contents Of Its Stomach Will Blow Your Mind)
Alaska Daily News noted in 2017 that as sea ice becomes scarcer throughout Alaska, polar bear attacks on humans have become more frequent. In many cases, the bears kill to eat, not as a means of defending themselves against humans, who are their only natural threat, according to the outlet.