Man Survives Grizzly Attack in Wyoming

A grizzly bear attacked a man from New York who was hiking alone at a high altitude in Wyoming and severely mauled him.

The grizzly attack happend Monday in the high-altitude area of Francs Peak.

Too Fast for Bear Spray

The unidentified 68-year-old victim was traveling for several days when he was attacked.

The attack was under investigation as of Tuesday, and according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), it appeared to have been a chance meeting between the person and a grizzly bear on Monday on Francs Peak, west of Meeteetse.

According to reports, the injured man was a tourist from another state who was hiking at a high altitude when he came into contact with the animal.

According to WGFD, the encounter came about too quickly for him to use the bear spray he was carrying.

Black and grizzly bears can be found in Wyoming. Although bear attacks are relatively uncommon, they can be fatal.

One study counted 183 bear attacks on people in North America between 2000 and 2015; approximately 14% of these attacks resulted in fatalities.

According to the National Park Service, grizzly bears in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park have injured 44 people since 1979 and killed eight people since 1872.

The National Park Service (NPS) advises people to take safety measures like being aware of bears, staying on maintained trails, not hiking alone or at night, carrying bear spray, not leaving belongings lying around, and periodically making noise to reduce the risk.

Information on bear safety can be found in the Bear Wise section of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department website.

Just after 3:00 p.m. on Monday, the Park County Sheriff's Office received a distress call.

According to Jackson Hole Press, because of the reported elevation, first responders believed it had come from a downed aircraft.

A medical helicopter was launched after it was determined that a Personal Locator Beacon was the source of the call.

The severely hurt man was located by responders, and he was taken somewhere for immediate treatment.

Corey Class, a regional wildlife supervisor for the Cody area, said in a statement that the group sends healing thoughts and best wishes to the injured hiker, Newsweek reported.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department stated it would continue to monitor bear activity in the area and will make management decisions in the best interest of public safety.

As of Tuesday, no information was available regarding the man's condition.

Grizzly Bears

The grizzly bear is a brown bear of the North American subspecies.

Although grizzlies' fur sometimes appears to have a white tip, it is usually brown.

Except for Alaska, the continental United States has legal protections for grizzly bears, although there have been some contentious initiatives to roll back those protections recently.

Despite being strong top-of-the-food-chain predators, grizzly bears consume a large bulk of berries, nuts, fruit, leaves, and roots in their diet.

Additionally, bears eat other animals like moose and rodents.

The survival of the grizzly bear was also a concern during the early 20th century due to aggressive hunting.

These bears' historical range had been reduced to less than 2% by the 1920s and 1930s. There were thought to be only 600 to 800 of these animals left in the wild in the 1960s.

Grizzly bears were classified as threatened under U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1975.