A grizzly bear attacked and seriously injured a man in western Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, prompting closure of a mountain there Monday.
The grizzly was one of two that surprised the 35-year-old man from Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon on Signal Mountain. Rescuers flew the injured man by helicopter to an ambulance that drove him to a nearby hospital, according to CBS News.
He was expected to recover, park officials said in a statement, declining to identify him.
The statement did not describe the man’s injuries or how emergency officials were contacted. In an abundance of caution and for the investigation, Park officials closed a trail and the road to an overlook atop the 7,700-foot mountain.
The attack happened as Grand Teton and nearby Yellowstone National Park begin their busy summer tourist season.
The attack comes just days after a man in Canada suffered “significant injuries” after being attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting with his father.
Last July, a grizzly bear fatally mauled a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone National Park. The bear was later euthanized after breaking into a house near West Yellowstone in August.
In October 2022, a grizzly bear attacked and injured two college wrestlers in the Shoshone National Forest in northwestern Wyoming.
Grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states are protected as a threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Last month, the U.S. National Park Service announced it was launching a campaign to capture grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park for research purposes. The agency urged the public to steer clear of areas with traps, which would be clearly marked.
