A grizzly bear in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park accidentally sprayed itself with pepper spray while attacking a hiker, prompting the animal to flee. The hiker, a 35-year-old man from Massachusetts, pretended to be dead during the attack and made it to safety before spending the night in the hospital. Park officials decided not to capture or kill the bear due to the possibility that it was protecting a cub during the attack.
The attack occurred on Signal Mountain, leading to the closure of the area while officials investigated the incident. Closures like this are common after grizzly attacks in the Yellowstone region. The decision not to pursue the bears responsible for the attack was made based on their natural behavior, which did not involve any threatening activities usually associated with dangerous bears.
Despite carrying bear repellent spray and making noise to alert any bears in the area, the hiker was still attacked by the grizzly bear. He described encountering a small bear before being charged by a larger one, with no time to use his bear spray before falling to the ground and being bitten multiple times. The bear bit into the can of pepper spray, causing it to burst and drive the bears away. The victim was able to call for help and was evacuated to a hospital, where he was expected to make a full recovery.
Officials suspect that the attack was provoked by the hiker coming across a smaller bear cub belonging to the female grizzly that attacked him. Mother bears are known to aggressively defend their offspring, and it is likely that the bear acted out of protection for its cub. Rangers in the Yellowstone region track and study many of the bears in the area but were not familiar with the specific bears involved in this incident.
The decision not to pursue the bears was consistent with attacks that do not involve raiding campsites or other dangerous behaviors associated with bears that pose a threat to humans. The victim did everything right by carrying bear repellent and making noise to alert bears in the area, but unfortunately, he was still attacked. Despite the circumstances, he was expected to recover fully from the incident. Park officials did not release the hiker’s name to the public.
