- A missing hiker at Glacier National Park likely died from a bear attack, park officials said.
- It marks the park's first fatal bear attack since 1998.
- The incident led to trail closures as authorities assess ongoing safety concerns.
SALT LAKE CITY — The body of a missing hiker at Glacier National Park in Montana was located on Wednesday with injuries "consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter," park officials said, indicating the park's first fatal bear attack in nearly three decades.
A search and rescue team located the remains of the hiker approximately 2.5 miles up the Mt. Brown Trail, in a densely wooded area about 50 feet from the trail, park officials wrote on Thursday.
The park didn't immediately identify the man, but officials announced earlier on Wednesday that they were searching for a 33-year-old man from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He had indicated that he planned to hike toward the Mt. Brown Fire Lookout on Sunday evening. Park rangers were alerted about his disappearance on Monday afternoon, prompting a search of the Mt. Brown and Snyder areas and adjacent trail corridors.
The Sperry Trailhead was closed at the time, and remains closed as part of an ongoing investigation. The closure applies to several other trails in the area, including the Mt. Brown Trail.
"Wildlife and law enforcement personnel are currently assessing the area for bear activity and any ongoing public safety concerns," park officials wrote.
Glacier National Park is home to hundreds of brown and grizzly bears, and it was unclear which species was involved in the encounter. Officials note that it appears to be the first fatal bear attack since a man was killed in the Two Medicine Valley area in May 1998.
The incident also comes after a similar incident at another Western national park this week. Two hikers, a 28-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, were injured in a bear attack near Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park on Monday.
Yellowstone rangers provided a small update on Thursday, saying that preliminary evidence indicates a female grizzly bear with two or three cubs was involved in the encounter. Both hikers were treated at the scene before being transported out of the area by helicopter.
Rangers recommend that visitors be alert for signs of bears and carry bear spray in case of an encounter. People should stay at least 100 yards away from bears at all times.
They also urge that people hike in groups of at least three and avoid hiking at dawn, dusk or night when bears are most active. If approached, people should make themselves look big and make noise to scare it away, and never run away.
