With millions of visitors coming to national parks like Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton each year to see different types of bears in their native environments, what becomes a wonderful memory for many occasionally turns dangerous or even tragic.
At the end of August, a 34-year-old woman hiking through Glacier sustained injuries to her arm and shoulder after a bear with two cubs charged at her on a remote trail.
While the visitor was able to prevent more serious injury by using bear spray, a 34-year-old visitor to Grand Teton in Wyoming was more seriously mauled by a grizzly bear on the park’s Signal Mountain in May 2024.
The official National Park Service (NPS) guidance is that visitors keep a distance of at least 100 yards or 91 meters from large wildlife such as bears, and should one sneak up unexpectedly, make a noise that identifies them as human while staying calm and backing away slowly.
Those who know they will be going through remote trails where bears may be more present are advised to carry bear spray.
“The hiker began to deploy bear spray when the bear made contact”: NPS
The latest bear attack occurred at Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 16; a 29-year-old hiker suffered “significant but non-life-threatening injuries” to his chest and arm after a bear snuck up on him at Turbid Lake Trail near Yellowstone Lake.
“The male was hiking alone when he encountered the bear near Turbid Lake,” the NPS wrote in a statement. “The hiker began to deploy bear spray when the bear made contact […] National Park Service medics responded to the incident and walked out with the hiker.”
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With the last bear attack in Yellowstone recorded in May 2021, when a grizzly bear scratched and knocked down a hiker near Mammoth Hot Springs, this marks the first such incident in the national park in four years.
As the bear’s reaction was typical of what occurs when these animals are caught off guard, the NPS is not putting down or taking other action toward the bear, as it does in certain instances where they pose a danger to human safety.
NPS calls incident “a defensive reaction by the bear during a surprise encounter”
“Because this incident was a defensive reaction by the bear during a surprise encounter, the park will not be taking any management action against the bear,” NPS explained further.
Turbid Lake Trail remains shut down without an announced reopening date with park workers going through it periodically to send back any hikers who might still be on it.
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The area around Mary Bay and Pelican Valley Trailhead, where the specific Turbid Lake Trail is located, has been under investigation since Sept. 16, as the NPS looks to further study what prompted the bear’s reaction and use DNA sampling to determine whether it was a black or grizzly bear.
Both species can be found across the 2.2 million acres that make up Yellowstone.
“The hiker thought the bear was a black bear; however, the location, size, and behavior of the described bear suggest it might have been a grizzly bear,” the NPS wrote.
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