A Yellowstone National Park trail remained closed on Wednesday after a suspected grizzly bear attack left a hiker with serious, non-life-threatening injuries.
The 29-year-old man sustained wounds to his chest and arm during Tuesday's incident on the Turbid Lake Trail, northeast of Yellowstone Lake.
Park officials confirmed the man encountered the bear 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) into the backcountry, deploying repellent as it began its assault.
National Park Service medics walked out with the hiker, who was taken to a park clinic and flown to a nearby hospital.
The Turbid Lake Trail:
Park officials said Wednesday they had no more information including the man's name, where he was from, and updated condition.
It was the park's first bear attack since a grizzly injured a hiker in the Mammoth Hot Springs area in 2021. That hiker was able to hike out on his own.
A grizzly killed a woman just west of Yellowstone in 2023.
The bear in the latest attack will not be relocated or killed because it attacked during a surprise encounter and did not exhibit unnatural behavior, according to park officials.
DNA analysis could determine the species. The man believed it was a black bear but its location, size and behavior suggested it was a grizzly, according to the statement.
Grizzlies and black bears can be difficult to tell apart at times. But grizzlies grow much larger — as much as twice as big — and black bears usually have darker coloring.
Grizzlies are federally protected as a threatened species in the lower 48 U.S. states, where their numbers have rebounded from about 700 in the 1970s to around 2,000 today.
