Man jumps on polar bear that attacked his wife while looking for their dogs

A man jumped at a polar bear to save his wife after it lunged at her.

The couple left their home in the Canadian province of Ontario shortly before 5am on Tuesday to search for their missing dogs.

They were on the driveway of their home in Fort Severn when ‘a polar bear lunged at the woman’, stated the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service.

Her husband quickly came to her rescue.

‘The woman slipped to (the) ground as her husband leapt onto the animal to prevent its attack,’ stated police.

‘The bear then attacked the male, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his arm and legs.’

As the man wrestled with the bear, ‘a neighbour arrived with a firearm and shot the bear several times’, according to police.

The polar bear fled to the woods and was later found dead.

Cops responded to reports of gunfire as well as a possible bear sighting and found the animal’s carcass.

‘Police continued to patrol the area to ensure no other bears were roaming the community,’ the service stated.

The man was rushed to a hospital and is expected to recover.

For Severn is by Hudson Bay, where polar bears are frequently seen but spend most of their time in the water and looking for seals. They go to land in search of food when the ice breaks, according to Alysa McCall, who is director of conservation outreach at Polar Bears International.

‘It could be that (when) this attack happened, maybe this bear was a little hungrier than usual,’ McCall told CBC.

The staff scientist added that climate change forces ocean temperatures and ice patterns to shift and affects where polar bears go.

She advised community members to lock up waste that smells of food and to not walk alone in bear territory.

The man, who has not been identified, did the right thing in the frightening situation.

‘If you’re attacked by a polar bear, definitely do not play dead,’ McCall said.

‘That is a myth. Fight as long as you can.’

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