Two hikers sustained injuries Monday by one or more bears on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

National Park Service emergency services personnel responded to the incident, and it remains under investigation, park officials reported.

This is the first incident of a bear injuring a person in Yellowstone in 2026. The last time a visitor was injured by a bear in the park was in September 2025.

On Sept. 16, 2025, a 29-year-old male hiker was injured by a grizzly bear on the Turbid Lake Trail in Yellowstone National Park. The solo hiker sustained significant, nonlife-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm during the surprise, defensive encounter, which occurred roughly 2.5 miles from the Pelican Valley Trailhead, according to the National Park Service.

The last human fatality caused by a bear in Yellowstone occurred in 2015 in the Lake Village area of the park. Lance Crosby, a 63 year old Billings man, died as a result of traumatic injuries sustained from a bear attack. Results from genetic (DNA) analysis of bear hair samples collected next to Crosby’s body confirmed the adult female grizzly bear that was captured at the scene on the night the body was discovered was the bear involved in the fatal attack, park officials reported at the time.

An important fact in the decision to euthanize the bear was that a significant portion of the body was consumed and cached with the intent to return for
further feeding. Normal defensive attacks by female bears defending their young do not involve consumption of the victim’s body. Two grizzly bear cubs were tranferred to a facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The most recent death from a bear mauling in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was on April 15, 2021, when a backcountry guide was fatally mauled west of Yellowstone.

Two Northwest College wrestlers, who were hunting for antlers in a heavily populated grizzly bear habitat, were attacked on Oct. 15, 2022. Both student athletes survived the attack.

Grizzly bears typically attack to defend themselves, their cubs, or a food source (like a carcass) when surprised or threatened, according to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. While rarely predatory, they may attack if habituated to human food or if their space is invaded. Most attacks are defensive, aimed at neutralizing a threat rather than hunting. However, black bears on occasion see humans as a food source as well as a threat.

Despite occasional attacks, fatalities from bear attacks are very rare, according to the Park Service. No further information was available.

Park officials announced temporary closures pending completion of the investigation.

Stay safe in bear country

• Stay 100 yards away from bears at all times

• Carry bear spray and know how to use it

• Be alert. See the bear before you surprise it. Watch for fresh tracks, scat, and feeding sites (signs of digging, rolled rocks, torn up logs, ripped open ant hills)

• Make noise

• Hike in groups of three or more people

• Don’t hike at dawn, dusk, or at night, when grizzlies are most active

• Don’t run from a bear