ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) 鈥 A 1-year-old Australian shepherd took an epic trek across 150 miles (241 kilometers) of frozen Bering Sea ice that included being bitten by a seal or polar bear before he was safely returned to his home in Alaska.
Mandy Iworrigan, Nanuq's owner who lives in Gambell, Alaska, and her family were visiting Savoogna, another St. Lawrence Island community in the Bering Strait, last month when Nanuq disappeared with their other family dog, Starlight, .
Starlight turned up a few weeks later, but Nanuq, which means polar bear in Siberian Yupik, was nowhere to be found.
About a month after Nanuq disappeared, people in Wales, 150 miles (241 kilometers) northeast of Savoonga on Alaska鈥檚 western coast, began posting pictures online of what they described as a lost dog.
鈥淢y dad texted me and said, 鈥楾here鈥檚 a dog that looks like Nanuq in Wales,鈥欌 Iworrigan said.
She reactivated her Facebook account to see if it might be her wandering hound.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楴o freakin鈥 way! That鈥檚 our dog! What is he doing in Wales?鈥欌 she said.
The events of Nanuq鈥檚 journey will likely always be a mystery.
鈥淚 have no idea why he ended up in Wales. Maybe the ice shifted while he was hunting,鈥 Iworrigan said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure he ate leftovers of seal or caught a seal. Probably birds, too. He eats our Native foods. He鈥檚 smart.鈥
She used airline points to get her dog back to Gambell on a regional air carrier last week, a charter that was transporting athletes for the Bering Strait School District鈥檚 Native Youth Olympics tournament.
Iworrigan when the plane landed at the air strip in Savoonga, with both she and her daughter Brooklyn shrieking with joy.
Except for a swollen leg, with large bite marks from an unidentified animal, Nanuq was in pretty good health.
鈥淲olverine, seal, small nanuq, we don鈥檛 know, because it鈥檚 like a really big bite,鈥 she said.
