Florida man killed in bear attack at Glacier National Park

A Florida man who got lost while hiking in Montana’s Glacier National Park was killed by a bear in what authorities believe was the first fatal bear attack in the park since 1998.

The National Park Service said the hiker’s body was found and identified as Anthony Pollio, 33, of Davie, Florida. newsletter May 9. Pollio was last heard from on May 3, after he announced plans to hike to the Brown Mountain Fire Lookout.

Her last known message was sent at around 20:20 local time on May 3, and she was reported missing to the park on the afternoon of May 4, according to police. National Park Service.

The National Park Service said park rangers are concentrating their search efforts in the Brown Mountain and Snyder Lakes areas and adjacent trail corridors. Air resources and local rescue teams also assisted in the search efforts.

Pollio’s body was found by search and rescue teams around 12:00 local time on May 6, about 50 meters off Brown Mountain Road, “in a densely wooded area where fallen timber had fallen.” National Park Service. Crews also found some of Pollio’s personal belongings about 4 miles from the start of the trail.

At the time of the discovery, the National Park Service said Pollio’s injuries were consistent with “wounds resulting from a bear encounter.”

“The sequence of events that led to the bear encounter is under investigation; however, evidence indicates this was a surprise encounter,” the National Park Service said in a May 9 news release. he said.

The National Park Service noted that a portion of the trail where the incident occurred remained temporarily closed while authorities investigated, and reminded park visitors to stay away from closed trails. The agency said park staff is working to “determine next steps based on field assessments and monitoring of wildlife behavior.”

Bear sightings in Glacier National Park

Fatal bear encounters are rare in Glacier National Park, located near the Canada-United States border in northwestern Montana. The last fatal bear attack in the park occurred in 1998 in the Two Medicine area, the National Park Service said.

On May 17, 1998, Craig Dahl, a lone hiker, was attacked on the Scenic Point Trail in Two Medicine Valley. National Park Service records to show. Wildlife officials killed a female bear and two cubs in response to Dahl’s death.

Since the park was established, there have been 10 grizzly bear-related deaths from 1967 to 1998, according to National Park Service records.

The last time a bear injured a human in Glacier National Park was in August 2025, the National Park Service said. A 34-year-old woman was injured by a “brown bear” while hiking in the backcountry with another person near Lake Janet, the agency said. newsletter In that case.

According to the National Park Service, a female bear and her two cubs charged toward the woman and she ran off the road. The female bear attacked the woman and injured her arm and shoulder.

The encounter ended when the hiking companion used bear spray, causing the bear to immediately run away, the agency said. The hikers then contacted park rangers using another group’s satellite communications device and sent an SOS, which found the woman to be in stable condition.

“No action will be taken against the bear at this time. This encounter came as a surprise to a sow with two cubs who reacted defensively. The area of ​​the trail where the hiking team was located is limited to the lake and dense brush where the bear emerged,” the agency said in the news release. he said. “The exact species of the bear could not be determined.”

Other bear sightings in the United States

The fatal bear encounter in Glacier National Park occurred the same week that two hikers were injured in a bear attack in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, according to the National Park Service.

At the time, the agency said: a newsletter On May 4, two hikers were injured in an attack by “one or more bears” on a trail near the Old Faithful geyser. an update On May 7, the agency said a 15-year-old boy and a 28-year-old man were injured while hiking on a Mystic Falls trail.

Authorities responded to the scene and provided assistance to the two hikers before transporting them away from the area by helicopter, according to the National Park Service. The incident is still under investigation, but the agency said park staff believe a female grizzly bear with two or three cubs was involved.

“This is the first incident of a bear injuring a person in Yellowstone in 2026,” the National Park Service said. “The last time a visitor in the park was injured by a bear was in September 2025. The last human death caused by a bear occurred in the Lake Village area of ​​the park in 2015.”

In April, two U.S. Army soldiers were injured when they encountered a grizzly bear during training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, the 11th Airborne Division said in a press release. During the incident, both soldiers sprayed bear spray and those injured were treated.

Officials in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which covers parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, also reported: A sudden increase in encounters between aggressive bears and humans In April.

What should you do if you encounter a bear?

To stay safe in areas where bears may be present, the National Park Service advises visitors to:

• Always stay 100 feet away from bears.

• Carry bear spray and learn how to use it.

• Be careful and watch for new tracks, distributions and feeding grounds. Look for signs of digging, tumbled rocks, splintered logs, and torn anthills.

• Hike in groups of three or more people.

• Do not hike at dawn, dusk or at night when bears are most active.

Credit: Julia Gomez and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Hiker killed in rare bear attack in Glacier National Park identified