A 39-year-old man was injured by a grizzly bear Friday morning while hiking at Yellowstone National Park, according to park officials.
In a news release, park officials said the man, who was not identified, was hiking on the Beaver Ponds Trail at Mammoth Hot Springs. The man was hiking alone when he encountered two grizzlies, the Billings Gazette reported.
It is the first instance of a bear attacking a person at the national park this year, the newspaper reported. The last encounter occurred in June 2020, when a grizzly knocked a woman to the ground and scratched her thigh.
Outside the park’s boundaries, a West Yellowstone, Montana, man was fatally mauled by a grizzly on April 15, the newspaper reported. The bear had been feeding on a dead moose carcass.
During Friday’s incident, one of the bears caused “significant injuries” to the hiker’s lower extremities but he was able to leave the scene on his own, according to the Yellowstone news release.
The man was taken to an area hospital by a park ambulance, the Gazette reported.
Park officials said the Beaver Ponds Trail is closed until further notice, KTVM reported. The park’s bear management staff swept the park Friday to ensure there were no other hikers on the trail, according to the Gazette.