Australian Shepherd Reunited with Her Family in Alaska

An Australian shepherd named Nanuq has returned home after a remarkable journey across 241 kilometers of frozen Bering Sea ice. A seal or polar bear bit the one-year-old dog during the trip, but eventually made it safely back to his owner, Mandy Iworrigan, in Gambell, Alaska.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Nanuq and another family dog, Starlight, disappeared while Iworrigan and her family were visiting Savoogna, a St Lawrence Island community on the Bering Strait. Starlight turned up weeks later, but Nanuq was nowhere to be found.

After one month, the people in Wales posted some pictures online of a log dog that they have seen. Mandy’s father texted her to reactivate her Facebook account to investigate, and Mandy couldn’t believe it when she realized that it is her dog, and was found in Wales.

The circumstances surrounding Nanuq’s journey remain a mystery. Mandy speculated that the dog may have been hunting and eating native foods like leftover seal or birds.

The family arranged for Nanuq’s return to Gambell on a regional air carrier. The reunion was filmed by Iworrigan and her daughter, Brooklyn, who both expressed joy and excitement at seeing Nanuq again. Despite a swollen leg and large bite marks from an unidentified animal, Nanuq was in relatively good health.