• A polar bear mauled to death a boy and woman in Wales, Alaska.
• The isolated community is more than 1,185 miles north-west of Juneau.
• Researchers predict that as more ice evaporates, human contact with bears may rise.

Authorities have reported the deaths of a mother and a boy by a polar bear in a remote Alaskan village.

On Tuesday afternoon, a bear made its way into the Seward Peninsula’s westernmost settlement of Wales and started chasing residents, according to police.

It was shot and killed as it attacked the boy and woman, but the mauling proved to be fatal.

Although fatal polar bear attacks in Alaska are uncommon, researchers predict that as more ice evaporates, human contacts with polar bears may rise.

Wales is a small community that is primarily made up of Inupiaq natives.

The isolated community, more than 1,185 miles (1,907 km) north-west of Juneau, Alaska’s state capital, is home to about 150 people.

“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents,” Alaska state troopers wrote in a dispatch, according to Associated Press.

“The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male.”

Police withheld the identities of the two victims while still notifying the families.

Once the weather permits, police and state representatives will go to Wales to do additional research.

According to US studies, when an animal’s native habitats start to shrink, it becomes more likely for it to attack people as they move inland.

According to a 2017 report by The Wildlife Society, polar bear assaults on people have grown since 2000 and are more likely to happen between July and December, when there is less sea ice to protect against them.

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