08/29/2026
This is a good read….
2026 BEAR ATTACKS UPDATE -- Information has come to light on several new bear attacks since my last update. Before we get to that, let’s set a few things straight before the predator apologists chime in with their usual propaganda.
First, those who insist that all bear attacks are caused by humans are simply lying and engaging in victim-blaming or victim-shaming to shift attention away from the reality of predators behaving like predators. Common sense should tell you that some attacks are, and some attacks are not, “caused” by humans. The most notable study on black bear attacks concluded that 88% of fatal black bear attacks are predatory attacks. Simply stated, that means the bear wants to take you down, kill you and eat you. Period. End of story. This explains why experts always advise people to fight back against an attacking black bear.
Secondly, those who insist that simply publishing a list of bear attacks is “sensationalizing” are dead wrong. It’s called reporting, and people have a right to know. It’s little different than publishing a list of shark attacks, which is quite common, and you should seriously question the motives and bias of anyone who does not want a list published and wants the truth suppressed.
Third, those who insist that all attacks are a result of human encroachment in bear habitat or of humans “taking away their homes and food” are also simply wrong. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. In many areas, bear populations are expanding, and their range is expanding into areas where they have long been absent. As this list illustrates, some attacks result when bears invade areas that have long been human habit. Anyone who plays the encroachment blame game and lives in a man-made structure is a hypocrite because their dwelling was once wild habitat. Of course, habitat loss is real and a threat to all wildlife, but there are still hundreds of millions of acres of protected bear habitat in North America, including areas with bear densities as high as one bear per square mile. I know and accept the risks when I am in bear country, but I’m also prepared to deal with a worst-case scenario.
As for the “they were here first” argument, that’s also untrue. Humanoids and bear ancestors have been around on this planet for roughly the same amount of time. Both are predatory, warm-blooded, omnivorous mammals, and each has as much right to live in any ecosystem as the other unless you think humans arrived from outer space.
Some people also like to vacuously assert that more people are killed by dogs or cows or than by bears. While that may be true, it’s a lame attempt to divert attention from attacks by using false equivalency to compare far more numerous domestic animals in much more frequent contact with humans to far fewer wild animals. I could, of course, talk about how more black bear cubs are killed by adult male bears than by people, but none of those statements are relevant to the TOPIC OF THIS DISCUSSION, which is only about BEAR ATTACKS ON HUMANS.
Finally, a number of people have accused me of publishing a list only because I want all bears shot. That’s complete BS. I started tracking and compiling a list this year because a number of wildlife management professionals predicted this would be a bad year for human-bear encounters. As a hunter-conservationist, I emphatically DO NOT want all black bears and grizzlies gone, but I do want to see them better managed in many areas than they are now. Hunting is just one tool professional wildlife managers and biologists use to keep animal populations matched to the carrying capacity of their habitat and reduce conflicts. The anti-hunters can rant and rage all they want, but professional wildlife management trumps wildlife management via ballot box and emotion every time. Think about it: it makes absolutely no sense to manage all prey species in an ecosystem but not manage apex predators within that ecosystem.
People who think otherwise are simply viewing nature through Disney-colored glasses and fooling themselves, and those who elevate animal life above human life are simply sick.
Here’s an updated list of attacks thus far this year. I have added several new attacks and subtracted one near-attack involving an aggressive bear. I have also split the list into one for brown/grizzly bears and one for black bears. This list reveals, among other things, that there have been some real hotspots for bear attacks thus far this year, including Vancouver, Anchorage, Colorado and New Mexico.
2026 GRIZZLY/BROWN BEAR ATTACKS
- In an apparent case of bear spray failure, a lone male hiker was killed by a grizzly in Glacier National Park May 3. A completely discharged can of bear spray was found near his body.
- Another hiker suffered severe arm injuries and was airlifted to a hospital after being attacked by a grizzly in Glacier National Park in a separate attack.
- Two brothers were mauled and seriously injured by a grizzly while they were hiking in Yellowstone National Park. A family member said they had deployed bear spray, but the National Park Service refuses to confirm or deny if pepper spray was used.
- A man hunting black bears in Idaho shot and killed a charging grizzly at five yards when it charged the man and his son.
- A Kenai, Alaska woman was seriously injured by an attacking brown bear on the deck of her home, despite firing warning shots with a shotgun.
- A 72-year-old female hiker was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries after she was attacked by a sow grizzly with a cub near Tyaughton Lake in British Columbia. The woman sustained a C1 vertebra neck fracture along with multiple wounds to her face, arms, and neck.
- On Aug 13, a brown bear attacked and injured a female runner on a popular Chugach State Park trail in Anchorage. The woman deployed bear spray, but apparently not in time to prevent her from being injured. The woman self-evacuated to a hospital.
- A brown bear attacked and inflicted serious injuries on a man biking the Dome Trail in Anchorage. This is the second aggressive bear encounter on the Dome Trail in less than a year. A brown bear mauled and seriously injured a woman hiking there last July.
- A woman hiking with a friend and three dogs suffered non-life-threatening injuries when she was attacked by a brown bear near Chugach State Park in south Anchorage, Alaska.
-Two soldiers were seriously injured in April by a brown bear near Anchorage on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The Army did not provide many details about the encounter but said that the soldiers were equipped with bear spray and that they had deployed it, but they were not able to escape serious injury.
- On August 18, an adult female was attacked by a brown bear near Bells Flats on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The woman was walking her dog near a salmon stream when she encountered a sow with cubs. The bear bit the victim several times on the legs, but the dog’s barking diverted the bear’s attention. The victim was able to crawl away and play dead. Once the sow and cubs left, the victim called 911 and walked to the nearest residence. She sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
- A man was injured and hospitalized following a grizzly bear attack on his private farm property near Vanderhoof, BC. on April 13. During the attack, the man scrambled under a barbed wire fence to escape.
- A grizzly injured a man in what authorities said was a close-range surprise encounter in the Rutherford Creek drainage near Pemberton, British Columbia. The man was able to get himself to safety and seek medical attention.
- A man jogging with his dog in Henrys Lake State Park near Island Park, Idaho was attacked and injured by a bear identified as a grizzly. The man, who was able to walk out of the park, was hospitalized. The extent of his injuries was not released.
- Parks Canada said one of two hikers in Jasper National Park sustained minor injuries, despite deploying bear spray, after encountering a female grizzly with cubs. Authorities said the bear spray likely prevented more serious injuries.
2026 BLACK BEAR ATTACKS
- On July 15, a retired couple from Regina, Canada were killed by a black bear near their cabin at Lake McTavish where they had gone to fish. A bear suspected in the attack was killed by authorities.
- A black bear killed a 27-year-old male worker from India at uranium mining company's facility in northern Saskatchewan on May 8.
- A man was killed in an attack by a black bear Aug. 20, near Crystal, New Mexico, a small community located near the Arizona border. Navajo police said the bear was later located and neutralized. The Navajo Police Dept. urged residents to contact the police if they see a bear. Details on the attack are limited at this time. This attack was the THIRD black bear attack in New Mexico so far this year.
- A man sustained non-life-threatening injuries Aug. 21 after he was bitten by a black bear while camping near Red River, New Mexico.
- A man was injured by a black bear near Cedar Crest, New Mexico. Cedar Crest is part of the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
- BC Conservation officers issued a warning after the FOURTH bear attack in metro Vancouver. On Aug 24, a man was attacked by a black bear that followed him and swiped at his leg while the man was walking on the Richard Juryn trail network. As of this update, The BC Conservation Officer Service says bear-human interactions increased this year compared to last year, with 12 percent more calls to the service about black bears during the first half of 2026. During this period, conservation officers took action to kill 178 bears deemed to be a threat to public safety.
- On Aug 17, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service responded to an attack on a woman in her backyard of her Anmore home by a black bear. The woman, who was on the back deck of her home with her dog, received medical attention for non-life-threatening injuries.
- A 3-year-old girl was attacked by a black bear while the girl was playing on the back deck of her home in Maple Ridge near Vancouver, British Columbia. The girl was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-altering injuries. A parent chased the bear away, but it kept returning to the scene and was eventually killed by authorities.
- In another metro Vancouver attack this year, a man was bitten by a black bear outside his apartment complex in Port Coquitlam, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
- In the SEVENTH black bear attack in Colorado thus far this year, a woman in her 80s sustained abdominal injuries from an attack by a black bear that broke into her Estes Park home on Aug 27.
- On Aug 21, a fisherman was walking towards a parking lot near the confluence of the Platte rivers in Colorado when he was attacked by a sub-adult black bear. Although the man wasn't carrying any fish, witnesses say the sow knocked him to the ground and bit his legs. It took several minutes for the man's friends to scare the bear away.
- On Aug. 17, a man was injured after encountering a black bear at an apartment complex near Eagle-Vail, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The man was leaving a building laundry room when he encountered a female black bear.
- On Aug 19, a black bear injured a homeless man sleeping in an Aspen, Colorado park. The man was sleeping in Rio Grande Park when a bear bit him on the head. He was treated for head and facial injuries and later released from the hospital. An adult female bear, which did not have cubs, was euthanized in accordance with CPW policy.
- On Aug 17, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a woman was injured after a bear forced its way into her home. The woman suffered cuts to her face when she tried to scare the bear outside. She was treated at a hospital and released.
- In early August, a minor who was out scouting for hunting season was followed by a black bear that followed him and chased him up a tree near Snowmass, Colorado. The minor eventually was able to fight the bear off, according to published reports.
- In June, near Golden, Colorado, a black bear scratched a woman’s leg, ripped off her backpack and followed the woman for about 30 minutes, despite her shouting and throwing rocks and sticks.
- On Aug. 18, a female black bear entered a home in Asheville, North Carolina, and injured a woman on its way out. The NCWRC said the bear posed a threat to human safety and efforts were being made to humanely dispatch the bear.
- In the third week of August, a black bear attempted to attack a person walking near Roosevelt Middle School in Red Lodge, Montana. A good Samaritan intervened and was able to prevent the attack. Officials said the incident was predatory in nature because the black bear was approached the person slowly, purposefully and methodically.
- A woman was hiking with her leashed dog in a forested area of Whatcom County, Washington, Aug 15. when they encountered a black bear. The bear charged the woman, then followed her and continued to charge at her, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). She was not injured by the bear, but suffered cuts from falling and retreating into a blackberry bush. The bear displayed classic predatory black bear behavior.
- In Catskill, New York, a 70-year-old woman sustained minor injuries when she was attacked by a black bear in her yard.
- A California couple sustained "significant" injuries this after they were attacked by a black bear outside the door of their Mammoth Lakes home, according to officials. The woman opened her door in Mammoth Lakes to find one of her dogs fighting with a black bear. She was injured when she tried to save her dog, as was her husband when he went outside. The man reportedly fought the bear off with a hatchet. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife euthanized the bear after determining it was a threat to public safety.
- In the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Abrams Falls Trail was temporarily closed after three incidents involving an aggressive bear, including one in which a black bear bit a person who entered a closed area. (Per news reports, rangers also responded to three incidents at Ramsey Cascades Trail, including one in which a bear displayed aggressive behavior and briefly chased a group).
- In Connecticut, a young boy was playing outside his home when a large black bear suddenly sprinted toward him. Home security cameras captured the scene as the bear closed in fast, leaving the child with no time to run or find cover. Just before the bear reached the boy, the family’s husky rushed in to confront the bear and drive it away.
- A park was closed and a woman was hospitalized following an attack by a black bear near Duncan on Vancouver Island, BC.
- A woman was injured by a black bear while she was hiking with her dogs near Teton Pass in Wyoming. Authorities attributed the attack to a sow with at least one cub, and categorized it as defensive. The use of bear spray did not prevent injury, but authorities believe it lessened injuries, and the woman was able to walk back to the trailhead and seek medical attention.
- On June 16, a teenager was injured when a black bear charged and attacked a group of hikers on a trail on Washington's Mount Si.
- A black bear invaded a home in Crestline, California on June 15 and mauled an autistic 19-year-old boy while he was sleeping.
- A man running on a trail was attacked and injured by a black bear May 25 near Squamish, B.C., after he came upon a sow with two cubs.
- A black bear charged a man outside his Lake Tahoe home, but was repelled by bear spray.
