Two hikers were attacked by one or more bears Monday afternoon on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, and emergency personnel responded to the scene.
The National Park Service said Tuesday the incident is under investigation and described it as the first time this year that a bear had injured people in the park. Officials did not say how badly the hikers were hurt.
The attack led to the closure of at least five trails and multiple campsites, as Yellowstone again warned visitors to keep at least 100 yards from bears and carry bear spray. The park also told people to watch for fresh tracks, scat and feeding sites, a reminder aimed at hikers who can encounter wildlife even on popular routes near one of the park's busiest areas.
The September bear attack at Yellowstone was the most recent before Monday's incident, when officials said a 29-year-old hiker was seriously injured in a surprise encounter on the Turbid Lake Trail. The last human death caused by a bear inside the park was in 2015, though a grizzly killed a woman just west of Yellowstone in 2023.
Yellowstone is home to more than 1,000 grizzlies across the greater ecosystem, up from 136 in 1975, according to park estimates. Grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but scientists now say the population is doing well and pushing into more habitat. That makes each encounter harder to dismiss, especially at the start of a season in which scientists spotted the first grizzly of 2026 in March.
For park visitors, the message after this week's yellowstone bear attack is plain: give bears space, stay alert and treat tracks and scat as warning signs, not scenery. The park has more bears, more people and more places where the two can meet, and that is why this attack matters now.