A lone hiker was seriously injured after being attacked by a bear while hiking a remote trail in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, prompting officials to close the area indefinitely.
The 29-year-old man was about 2.5 miles into the Turbid Lake Trail, which is northeast of Yellowstone Lake, when he came across the bear during the afternoon of Sept. 16. The trail is located in the Pelican Valley Bear Management Area near Mary Bay.
The hiker used bear spray when the animal attacked, but was seriously wounded on his chest and left arm before the bear left. Despite the severity of the injuries, officials said they were non-life-threatening.
Park medics responded to the remote location and helped the injured man during his walk back to the Pelican Valley Trailhead. From there, park service staff took him via park ambulance to the Lake Medical Clinic before he was airlifted to a nearby hospital for additional treatment.
The man initially believed he had come across a black bear, but the animal's location, size, and behavioral patterns suggest it may have been a grizzly, park officials said. Bear management personnel will use DNA analysis to determine the exact species involved in the attack.
Park authorities said Wednesday they would not pursue any action against the bear, due to the defensive nature of the animal's response during what they called a surprise encounter.
The Turbid Lake Trail remains closed while bear management staff sweep the area to ensure no other hikers remain. Park representatives said they had no additional information relating to the victim's identity, hometown, or current medical condition.
This marks Yellowstone's first bear-related injury of 2025 and the park's first such incident since May 2021, when a grizzly bear injured a solo hiker on the Beaver Ponds Trail in the Mammoth Hot Springs area. That previous victim was able to hike out by themself.
The attack took place in an area where both grizzly and black bears live in the area, though distinguishing between the two can prove challenging for visitors. Grizzlies typically grow much larger than black bears—sometimes reaching twice the size—and black bears generally have darker fur.
Grizzly bears are federally protected under threatened species designation throughout the lower 48 states, where populations have recovered from approximately 700 bears in the 1970s to around 2,000 today.
A fatal grizzly attack happened just west of Yellowstone in 2023.
Park officials announced multiple safety protocols for backcountry visitors, including carrying bear spray, hiking in groups of three or more people, maintaining 100-yard distances from bears, staying on designated trails, and avoiding dawn, dusk, or nighttime hiking when grizzlies are at their peak activity levels.
The incident remains under active investigation, with no additional details available at this time.