>
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. >

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! >

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? >

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? >

“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.” >

“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!” >

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

The animals I could beat in a fight tier list claims after 475 participants that most people would agree. Bears are in the top tier. They are ridiculously strong and fast, have unavoidable tracking abilities, can climb, are intelligent, and have claws that'll end you before they even open their mouth to bite. >

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. >

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

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

I can think of something ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°) >

They don't call it a blowhole for nothing. >

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. >

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

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”. >

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

Tragic for both humans and the bear. >

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

Pretty lame. Bear spray works on all mammals >

polar bears are uniquely scary >

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

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. >

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


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


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


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. 


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. >

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? >

There's a problem with almost EVERY polar bears food source... >

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

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. >

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

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. >

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. >

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. >

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. >

This is hilarious. >

Thanks for fighting the good fight and taking yhe downvotes with me. This joke was important and it needed to be made! >

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

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

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