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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Two individuals sustained injuries following a bear encounter on a frequently visited trail close to Yellowstone National Park’s famous Old Faithful geyser, according to park authorities on Tuesday.
Officials reported that the incident occurred as a single attack on Monday afternoon along the Mystic Falls Trail.
A significant section of the park, encompassing the Midway Geyser Basin, was temporarily shut down for investigation. This closure affects at least five trails and multiple backcountry campsites.
While park representatives confirmed the involvement of one or more bears, they did not specify the species. Yellowstone is home to both grizzly and black bears, which can sometimes be challenging to distinguish. Grizzlies tend to be larger and more aggressive, potentially reaching twice the size of black bears, which are typically darker in color.
Details about whether the injured parties were hiking as a group or received hospital treatment remain undisclosed, as stated by Yellowstone spokesperson Ashton Hooker.
Yellowstone gets more than 4 million visits by tourists annually and attacks by grizzlies or black bears are rare.
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In September, a hiker suffered injuries to his chest and arm in an attack on the Turbid Lake Trail northeast of Yellowstone Lake, and a grizzly killed a woman just west of Yellowstone in 2023. The last fatal bear mauling in the park was in 2015 when a 63-year-old Billings, Montana man was killed while hiking alone in the park’s Lake Village area.
The fate of bears that attack humans is typically dictated by the circumstances of the encounter.
Following the 2015 fatal attack, officials captured and killed an adult female grizzly because it had eaten part of the victim’s body and hid the rest, which is not normal behavior for a bear defending its young.
By comparison, last year’s attack on the Turbid Lake Trail happened during a surprise encounter between the victim and the bear. The animal’s reaction was considered natural, so it was not relocated or killed.
The heavily traveled Mystic Falls trail where Monday’s attack occurred includes a loop that leads to a 70-foot (21-meter) tall waterfall. The trailhead is about two miles (three kilometers) northwest of Old Faithful.
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