A 29-year-old male sustained injuries from a bear while hiking Tuesday morning on a trail near Yellowstone Lake.

According to a park release, the incident happened on the Turbid Lake Trail, located northeast of Mary Bay in Yellowstone Lake and approximately 2.5 miles from the Pelican Valley Trailhead in the Pelican Valley Bear Management Area.

The man was hiking alone when he encountered the bear. The hiker began to deploy bear spray when the bear made contact and the hiker sustained significant but nonlife-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm.

National Park Service medics responded to the incident and walked out with the hiker. Once arriving to the trailhead, NPS transported the hiker in a park ambulance to the Lake Medical Clinic. He was then flown to a nearby hospital for treatment.

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. Bear management staff will attempt to confirm the species through DNA analysis, if possible. In the meantime, the Turbid Lake Trail is closed until further notice. 

Bear management staff are sweeping the trail to ensure no other hikers are on the trail. Visit the park’s Backcountry Conditions web chapter for status and conditions of park trails.

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. The incident remains under investigation and there are no further details to share at this time.

This is the first injury caused by a bear in Yellowstone this year. The last incident was in May of 2021, when a grizzly bear injured a solo hiker on the Beaver Ponds Trail in Mammoth Hot Springs.

Grizzly bear mortality

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 53 grizzly bears have been added to the provisional documented known and probable grizzly bear mortalities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so far this year. Of those, 35 were listed as removed in Wyoming. Overall, 31 of the 53 grizzy bear mortalities were management lethal removals, largely for livestock depredation.

So far this year, seven grizzly bears have been reported hit and killed by vehicles.

— Mark Davis contributed reporting