Florida man killed in bear attack at Glacier National Park

A Florida man who went missing while hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana was killed by a bear in what authorities believe to be the first deadly bear attack at the park since 1998.

The body of the hiker was recovered and identified as Anthony Pollio, 33, of Davie, Florida, the National Park Service said in a news release Saturday. Pollio was last heard from on May 3 after he communicated his plans to hike toward the Mount Brown Fire Lookout.

His last known message was sent at around 8:20 p.m. local time on May 3, and the park was notified about his disappearance the next day, according to the National Park Service.

Park rangers had concentrated their search efforts in the Mount Brown and Snyder Lakes areas and adjacent trail corridors, the National Park Service said. Aerial resources and local rescue crews also assisted in the search.

Pollio’s body was discovered by search -and -rescue crews at around noon local time Wednesday about 50 feet off the Mount Brown Trail in a “densely wooded area with downed timber,” according to the National Park Service. Crews also found some of Pollio’s personal items about 2.5 miles from the trailhead.

At the time of the discovery, the National Park Service said Pollio’s injuries were consistent with “those sustained by a bear encounter.”

“The sequence of events leading to the bear encounter remains under investigation; however, evidence suggests that this was a surprise encounter,” the NPS said. in the Saturday news release.

The National Park Service noted that a section of the trail where the incident occurred remains temporarily closed as authorities investigate and reminded park visitors to stay off closed trails. The agency said park staff were working to “determine next steps based on field assessments and wildlife behavior monitoring.”

Bear incidents at Glacier National Park

Fatal bear encounters are uncommon at Glacier National Park, located near the Canada–United States border in northwestern Montana. The National Park Service said the last deadly bear attack at the park occurred in 1998 in the Two Medicine region.

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

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

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

A female bear and her two cubs charged toward the woman, and she dove off the trail, according to the National Park Service. The female bear swiped at the woman, injuring her arm and shoulder.

The encounter ended after her hiking partner used bear spray, causing the bear to immediately run away, the agency said. The hikers then used another group’s satellite communicator to contact park dispatch and send an SOS, who found the woman in stable condition.

“No action will be taken against the bear at this time, the encounter was a surprise to a sow with two cubs that reacted defensively. The area of the trail the hiking party was on is confined by the lake and dense brush, which the bear came out of,” the agency said in the news release. “The species of the bear could not be positively identified.”

Other bear incidents in the United States

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

At the time, the agency said in a news release that the two hikers sustained injuries in an attack by “one or more bears” on a trail near the Old Faithful geyser on May 4. In an update on May 7, the agency said a 15-year-old boy and a 28-year-old man were hiking the Mystic Falls trail when they were injured.

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

“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 was injured by a bear in the park was in September 2025. The last human fatality caused by a bear occurred in 2015 in the Lake Village area of the park.”

In April, two U.S. Army soldiers were injured after encountering a brown bear during training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, the 11th Airborne Division said in a news release. Both soldiers deployed bear spray during the incident and were treated for their injuries.

Authorities at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which spans parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, also reported a spike in encounters between aggressive bears and humans in April.

What to do if you encounter a bear

To stay safe in areas where bears can be found, the National Park Service recommends visitors to:

• Stay 100 yards away from bears at all times.
• Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
• Be alert and watch for fresh tracks, scat, and feeding sites. Look for signs of digging, rolled rocks, torn-up logs, and ripped-open ant hills.
• Make noise.
• Hike in groups of three or more people.
• Don’t hike at dawn, dusk, or at night, when bears are most active.
• Don’t run from a bear.

Contributing: Julia Gomez and Phaedra Trethan, USA Today

This article originally appeared on USA Today

Reporting by Thao Nguyen, USA Today

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