Turbid Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

A 29-year-old man suffered serious injuries in Yellowstone National Park in what federal wildlife officials said could have been a grizzly bear attack.

The encounter on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 16 marked the first incident of a bear hurting someone in Yellowstone for the first time in more than four years, according to the National Park Service.

The incident took place on the Turbid Lake Trail in the Pelican Valley Bear Management Area, the National Park Service reported on the day of the attack.

As of Wednesday, Sept. 17, no other attacks had been reported in the area and the incident remained under investigation, officials told USA TODAY.

Man attacked by bear in Yellowstone was hiking solo

The man was hiking solo when he encountered the bear near Turbid Lake, according to NPS.

"The hiker began to deploy bear spray when the bear made contact, and he sustained significant but non-life-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm," officials wrote.

Park service paramedics responded to the scene, walked out with the hiker and transported him to the park's Lake Medical Clinic before transporting him by medical helicopter to a hospital to be treated for what officials called non life-threatening injuries.

"The hiker thought the bear was a black bear; however, the location, size, and behavior of the described bear suggest it might have been a grizzly bear," the release continues. It goes onto read "bear management staff" plan to attempt to confirm the animal's species through DNA analysis.

Yellowstone trail closed

NPS officials shut down the Turbid Lake Trail following the bear encounter. It remained closed to visitors on Sept. 17.

It was not immediately known when NPS would reopen the trail.

When was the last bear attack in Yellowstone?

The attack marked the first incident of a bear injuring a person in Yellowstone in 2025.

The last encounter took place in May 2021 when a grizzly bear injured a solo hiker on the Beaver Ponds Trail in Mammoth Hot Springs.

Yellowstone attack comes after bear fatally wounds man on tractor

Over the weekend, a 72-year-old man died after being attacked by a bear in northwest Arkansas.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesperson Keith Stephens said Vernon Pattan of Ozark died Sunday, Sept. 14. Patton was hospitalized then transferred to hospice care after he was attacked on a tractor in rural Franklin County on Sept. 3.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bear attacks hiker in Yellowstone, the first such encounter in years

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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