A 37-year-old Missouri woman sustained a minor injury Monday when attacked by a female grizzly bear while hiking on the Fairy Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. The unnamed woman was hiking alone and encountered two grizzly bears at very close range. The female bear knocked the woman down, and she sustained a scratch on her thigh and received minor injuries to her face. She attempted to use her bear spray to defend herself. Bear management biologist Kerry Gunther says it appears to be a case where a mother grizzly bear was seeking to protect her offspring following the inadvertent close encounter. Following the incident, the Fairy Falls Trail was cleared of and temporarily closed to give the grizzly family group time to clear from the area. This is the first time since last June a bear has injured a visitor, with last year’s incident involving a black bear. The woman in this incident suffered only minor injuries and she declined medical attention.
Credit: USFWS / Ture Schult
