Two Hikers Seriously Injured in Suspected Grizzly Bear Attack at Yellowstone

Two male hikers, aged 15 and 28, were seriously injured in a suspected grizzly bear attack on the Mystic Falls trail near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. This incident marks the first bear-related injury in the park for 2026. Park officials suspect a female grizzly bear with two or three cubs was involved in the assault. The victims were discovered by another hiker and subsequently airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one remains in critical condition and the other in serious condition. Notably, the Mystic Falls trail had been closed until 2024 specifically to mitigate conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. While alarming, such attacks remain statistically rare; since Yellowstone's establishment in 1872, only eight fatal bear attacks have occurred. For context, drowning and burns from hot springs claim significantly more lives annually. The last fatal attack occurred in 2015. Conservation efforts have helped grizzly populations rebound to approximately 2,000 in the lower 48 states, primarily concentrated in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, though encounters with these aggressive predators remain uncommon.