A grizzly bear attacked and injured a man at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, prompting officials to temporarily close part of the park to visitors.
The 35-year-old victim, who has not been identified by officials, was given emergency medical care at the scene and transported to St John’s Hospital on Sunday.
The man who is from Massachusetts is in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery, according to park officials.
Park rangers say that the man was caught in a surprise attack by two grizzly bears, with one of them injuring him. Officials closed the Signal Mountain Summit Road and Signal Mountain trail to all public entry.
It is the second bear attack in North America in the space of a week. A 36-year-old hunter who was tracking a bear in Canada was attacked by a different adult grizzly bear, sustaining multiple injuries.
That attack happened in the Rocky Mountains in Elkford, British Columbia, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Officials say the victim managed to shoot the bear and it was later found deceased.
Despite the two attacks, according to the US National Park Service, bear attacks are rare. However, the agency advises visitors against leaving food unattended unless properly secured, keep a clean camp and store attractants and garbage.
If a bear happens to be spotted, visitors should stay at least 100 yards away.
It’s not clear what the man’s injuries were and officials did not provide details of the attack.
There were 38 bear-related incidents in nearby Yosemite National Park last year, per the National Park Service’s website. Incidents are currently up 16 per cent compared to last year. Four male bears are currently active in Yosemite Valley.
Another large male bear has been seen along the riverbanks and a female bear has been active for over a month in and out of the area. There are about 1,400 to 1,700 grizzly bears in the US.
The species is still listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, meaning it could become endangered in the foreseeable future. The last attempt to get the bears delisted was in 2023 when US Senator Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, introduced a bill in the US Senate that would do just that.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service took grizzly bears off the threatened species list in 2007 and 2017 but were reinstated by district judges in 2009 and 2018.
