Family Hike Turns Terrifying in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park usually sees about one bear attack a year, though until this week there hadn't been one since 2015. That changed Thursday, after a 10-year-old was charged at by one, though thanks to his parents' quick thinking and a canister of bear spray, it appears he'll be OK. That's per a press release from the park, which details how a family of four was walking along a trail southeast of Old Faithful Thursday morning when a bear emerged from the vegetation and barreled after the boy as he started to run away. The bear caught up and knocked the boy down, at which point his parents "deployed bear spray about 5 feet from the bear's face."

The bear then "shook its head" and retreated. The boy was taken to a local clinic, then to Montana's Big Sky Medical Center, where he was treated for wounds to his buttocks, a hurt wrist, and puncture wounds on his back. Park officials say they're trying to figure out what type of bear attacked him, with Fox News noting both black bears and grizzlies live in the park. The Casper Star-Tribune reports there have been a handful of other animal attacks at Yellowstone this year, including by bison and cow elk. (A man caught on video taunting a bison at Yellowstone just got jail time.)