Watch: Lost dog returns home to family after surviving epic 150-mile trek across Alaskan sea ice
A lost dog was reunited with his family after an amazing 150-mile trek across sea ice in Alaska. The wandering dog survived the unbelievable journey despite being bitten by a wild animal.
An Alaskan family was visiting relatives in March when two of their dogs disappeared. One of the dogs, named "Starlight," turned up more than two weeks later in the next town over, about 35 miles away.
However, the family's dog named "Nanuq" disappeared and didn't return immediately. The family posted photos of their lost dog online in hopes that someone had seen Nanuq.
Out of nowhere, the owner's father found a dog that looked like Nanuq in a Facebook post written about a month after the dog went missing.
"My dad texted me and said, 'There's a dog that looks like Nanuq in Wales,'" said Nanuq's owner, Mandy Iworrigan.
She clicked on the Facebook post and reacted, "I was like, 'No freakin' way! That's our dog! What is he doing in Wales?'"
Nanuq, which means polar bear in Siberian Yupik, somehow traveled 150 miles from the town of Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island across the frozen Bering Sea to the town of Wales on the Alaskan mainland.
Iworrigan told the Anchorage Daily News, "I have no idea why he ended up in Wales. Maybe the ice shifted while he was hunting. I'm pretty sure he ate leftovers of seal or caught a seal. Probably birds, too. He eats our native foods. He's smart."
Iworrigan was able to bring Nanuq home on a regional airplane that was transporting athletes for the Bering Strait School District's Native Youth Olympics tournament.
Iworrigan filmed the ecstatic and improbable reunion with Nanuq at the airport in Savoonga. Iworrigan and her 8-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, could be heard shrieking with joy on video as they spotted Nanuq's nose pressing against the transport cage inside the airplane's storage area.
The joyous family said Nanuq was in pretty good health considering he had made a grueling 150-mile journey across the sea ice. However, the missing dog was attacked by an unidentified animal and suffered two large bite marks. The dog's owner believes Nanuq was attacked by a seal, wolverine, or polar bear.
“If dogs could talk, both of them would have one heck of a story,” Iworrigan said of Nanuq and Starlight.
Iworrigan is thankful for the people who took the time to post photos of the lost dog and the teacher who lent a dog carrier for Nanuq's flight back to his family.
"Alaska has caring people, and I’m happy for that. I’m blessed and fortunate. There’s people that actually care out there," Iworrigan said.
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