A man has sustained severe injuries after bravely jumping to defend his wife during a polar bear ambush early Tuesday morning, according to police.
Members of the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, based in the Fort Severn First Nation in Ontario, Canada, responded to reports of gunfire at a residential address in the early hours of the morning. Upon their arrival, officers discovered that a couple had exited their home shortly before 5 a.m. to tend to their dogs when the attack occurred.
While in their driveway, a polar bear lunged at the woman, prompting her husband to leap onto the bear in an attempt to thwart the assault. The bear then turned its attention on him, resulting in serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his arms and legs.
During the chaos, a neighbor arrived with a firearm and was able to shoot the bear several times, causing it to retreat into a nearby wooded area, where it later died from its injuries.
When police arrived, they located the deceased polar bear and learned that the injured man had been transported to the community nursing station for treatment of his wounds. Authorities continued to monitor the area to ensure no other bears were present in the community following the incident.
While the unnamed man is recovering from his serious injuries, he is expected to survive.
