Out-Of-State Man Survives Attack By 2 Wyoming Grizzlies

An attack prompted by a “surprise encounter” with two grizzly bears Sunday in the Signal Mountain area of Grand Teton National Park left a 35-year-old man hospitalized in stable condition.

MH
Mark Heinz

May 20, 20242 min read

Grizzlies in winter 2 17 23
(Getty Images)

Wyoming’s first verified bear attack of the season, involving two grizzlies in Grand Teton National Park on Sunday, left a man hospitalized.

The victim was a 35-year-old man from Massachusetts, Grand Teton spokesman Jeremy Barnum told Cowboy State Daily.

The National Park Service did not release the man’s name.

The man had a “surprise encounter” with two grizzlies in the Signal Mountain Area of the park Sunday afternoon and suffered serious injuries when one of the bears attacked him, Barnum stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

Signal Mountain Summit Road and Signal Mountain Trail remained closed to the public Monday afternoon as an investigation into the attack continued.

No further details were available regarding the nature or extent of the man’s injuries. However, he was listed in stable condition at St. John’s Hospital in Jackson and expected to make a full recovery, according to the Park Service.

Victim Was Airlifted After Attack

When a call for help came in Sunday Afternoon, “Grand Teton National Park rangers and Teton County Search and Rescue personnel responded to the scene to provide emergency medical care and air lifted the patient via helicopter to an awaiting ambulance where he was transported to St. John’s Hospital,” according Barnum.

Last year was relatively quiet in Wyoming as far as bear attacks were concerned.

A man was hurt in August 2023 after a close-range “surprise encounter” with a grizzly near Dubois.

Montana had a bad year.

In July 2023, Kansas resident Amie Adamson, 47, was attacked and killed after an apparent sudden encounter with a female grizzly and her cub on the Buttermilk Trail roughly 8 miles west of West Yellowstone, Montana.

There were four grizzlies killed in Montana during the fall of 2023 by hunters claiming self-defense.

YouTuber Jay Wanders Out encountered this warning sign to be alert of bear attacks while hiking the Signal Mountain Trail in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming.
YouTuber Jay Wanders Out encountered this warning sign to be alert of bear attacks while hiking the Signal Mountain Trail in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming. (Jay Wanders Out via YouTuber)

Authors

MH

Mark Heinz

Outdoors Reporter