iStockphoto / Janice Maingot / Georgia Evans
Two hikers in Yellowstone National Park were found last week by a third hiker who followed grizzly bear tracks to the scene of a bear attack. They were later airlifted to a nearby hospital while one was in serious condition and the other was listed as being in critical condition.
The two hikers, aged 15 and 28, are believed to have been the first victims of a bear attack this year and it is believed a female grizzly bear with cubs under a year old was the aggressor.
First Bear Attack Of The Year In Yellowstone National Park
While footage of the injured hikers has not and likely will not be shared, eerie footage of the third hiker who found them at the attack scene has since gone viral. The third hiker, Craig Lerman, happened up grizzly bear tracks and followed them to the scene of the attack.
After following the bear tracks he found one of two injured hikers in a bloody scene and was able to radio for help and get the injured pair helicoptered out of there and to a nearby hospital, likely saving their lives in the process. Here is the clip shared on TikTok by the @sfgate channel showing Craig Lerman’s footage as he walked into the attack scene:
@sfgate Two male hikers, ages 15 and 28, were seriously injured May 4 in a bear encounter on Yellowstone National Park’s Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Wyoming. Another hiker later reported seeing bear paw prints in mud and snow before finding one of the injured men lying in a pool of blood. Details remain limited as the incident is still under investigation, but the National Park Service said park staff believe, based on evidence collected so far, that a female grizzly bear with two or three young cubs was involved. Visit the link in bio for more.
The bear attack occurred on May 4th and led to a large portion of Yellowstone National Park being closed off to visitors as the incident was investigate. Park officials are now saying they believe it was a sow with 2 or 3 cubs under a year old that was responsible for the incident.
The incident occurred in an area northwest of the Old Faithful area of the park. Prior to this bear attack, the last time a Yellowstone visitor was injured by a bear was in September 2025 and the last time there was a fatal bear attack in the National Park was in 2015 in Lake Village.
How To Avoid Attacks
Visitors to Yellowstone National Park are all advised (and expected) to remain *at least* 100 yards away from bears at all times, both grizzly bears and black bears as the park is home to both. The NPS encourages all visitors/hikers to carry bear spray, hike in groups of 3 or more, make as much noise as possible, never run from bears, always remain alert, and to not hike at night/dusk/dawn when grizzly bears are the most active.
According to a local news report from KBZK Bozeman, the National Park has not yet indicated that it is attempting to identify or track the bear responsible for this attack. That would, in theory, indicate they do not believe the bear acted out of mere aggression but was responding to a perceived threat toward the ‘2 or 3 cubs under a year old’ that the grizzly bear is believed to have been with.
That report indicates the locals living adjacent to Yellowstone National Park have “very little information” pertaining to this particular bear attack and that is quite unusual following a violent attack. It is possible that’s tied to the investigation, or to the depleted park service. Either way, it remains unclear at this point as to why.
Ultimately, bear attacks in Yellowstone (or anywhere) are extremely rare. Approximately 4.76 million visitors made it to Yellowstone in 2025, the second-highest total ever to visit the park. That is around 13,000+ visitors every single day of the year.
There are over 1,000 grizzly bears estimated to be in Yellowstone National Park with black bears in there as well. The math clearly shows that bear attacks are extremely rare. Nevertheless, exercising an abundance of caution is always recommended.