Two hikers in Yellowstone seriously injured in bear attack

"A pair of hikers in Yellowstone National Park were seriously injured in a bear attack earlier this week. The number of bears involved, and their species, has not been released by park officials. But Yellowstone is home to both black bears and grizzlies, and the attack occurred on a trail - Mystic Falls, near Old Faithful - that until 2024 had been closed to reduce the chance of conflicts with grizzlies, according to the , a local nonprofit news outlet."

"The two injured hikers, possibly brothers, were discovered by another hiker and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one was listed in serious condition and the other in critical condition, according to another local news outlet, the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The hikers were the first people injured by bears in Yellowstone in 2026, the National Park Service service said in a news release."

"In September 2025, a 29-year old man was hiking alone on the remote Turbid Lake Trail when he apparently surprised a bear. While trying to use his bear spray canister, he sustained "significant but not life-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm," according to officials. The last fatal bear attack in Yellowstone was in 2015, park officials said, when an adult female grizzly with two cubs killed a solo hiker."

"Grizzly bears, which can kill and eat large prey like elk and moose, often weigh twice as much as black bears, have larger claws and are considerably more aggressive. Black bears are extremely common in California. But despite being featured on the state flag, wild grizzlies haven't been spotted in the state for about a century. The last known wild grizzly bear in California was shot and killed in the 1920s."

A bear attack in Yellowstone National Park earlier this week seriously injured two hikers on the Mystic Falls trail near Old Faithful. The number of bears and their species were not released by park officials. The hikers were found by another hiker and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one was listed in serious condition and the other in critical condition. The National Park Service said the hikers were the first people injured by bears in Yellowstone in 2026. A prior incident in September 2025 involved a solo hiker who surprised a bear and suffered significant but not life-threatening injuries while using bear spray. The last fatal bear attack in Yellowstone occurred in 2015 involving a grizzly bear with cubs.

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