A grizzly that accidentally inflicted itself with a burst of pepper spray while attacking a hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park won’t be captured or killed because it may have been trying to protect a cub, park officials said in a statement.

While mauling a hiker on Signal Mountain, the grizzly bit into the man’s can of bear repellent and was hit with a burst of it, causing the animal to flee. The 35-year-old Massachusetts man, who’d pretended to be dead while he was being bitten, made it to safety and spent Sunday night in the hospital.

There was no word when Signal Mountain or a road and trail to its 7,700-foot (2,300-meter) summit would reopen after being closed because of the attack. Such closures are typical after the handful of grizzly attacks on public land in the Yellowstone region every year.

The decision not to pursue the bears, which officials determined behaved naturally after being surprised, also was consistent with attacks that don’t involve campsite raids, eating food left out by people, or similar behaviors that make bears more dangerous.

Rangers track and study many of the Yellowstone region’s 1,000 or so bears but weren’t familiar with the ones responsible for the attack Sunday afternoon, according to the statement.

The attack happened even though the victim was carrying bear-repellant spray and made noise to alert bears in the forest, the statement said.

Speaking to rangers afterward, the man said he came across a small bear that ran away from him. As he reached for his bear repellant, he saw a larger bear charging at him in his periphery vision.

He had no time to use his bear spray before falling to the ground with fingers laced behind his neck and one finger holding the spray canister.

The bear bit him several times before biting into the can of pepper spray, which burst and drove the bears away.

The man got to an area with cell phone coverage and called for help. A helicopter, then an ambulance evacuated him to a nearby hospital.

Investigators suspect from the man’s description that the smaller bear he saw was an older cub belonging to the female grizzly that attacked. Mother bears aggressively defend their offspring and remain with them for two to three years after birth.

Park officials didn’t release the victim’s name. He was expected to make a full recovery.

Recent grizzly attacks

The attack in Grand Teton National Park came just days after a man in Canada suffered “significant injuries” after being attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting with his father.

Last fall, a Canadian couple and their dog were killed by a grizzly bear while backpacking in Banff National Park. Just weeks before that, a hunter in Montana was severely mauled by a grizzly bear. 

Last July, a grizzly bear fatally mauled a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone National Park. The bear was later euthanized after breaking into a house near West Yellowstone in August. 

Also that month, a 21-year-old woman who was planting trees was seriously injured by a bear in British Columbia. Canadian officials could not locate the animal but believe it was a grizzly bear that attacked the woman.

Grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states are protected as a threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  

Last month, the U.S. National Park Service announced it was launching a campaign to capture grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park for research purposes. The agency urged the public to steer clear of areas with traps, which would be clearly marked

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming! I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom, for Thursday, May 23rd.

The out-of-state man who was mauled by a mother grizzly in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sunday apparently had a phenomenal stroke of luck when the apex predator essentially bear-sprayed itself.

Park service officials told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that the 35-year-old Massachusetts man did everything right, including pulling out his readily-available can of bear spray when he rounded a corner and came face to face with a bear cub and its protective mama.

“So he did what you’re supposed to do. He got down flat on his belly, interlaced his fingers behind the back of his neck… The bear spray was apparently still hooked to one of his fingers, and the bear got to biting him and at some point she bit into that can of bear spray and the can burst in her face, and she and the cub took off… I did talk to a couple of pretty hardcore outdoor people who spend a lot of time in grizzly country. They said that’s a new one… We’ve never heard of an attack being stopped by a bear spraying itself.”  

The man, who was not identified by the Park Service, was released from the hospital Monday and is expected to recover fully from his injuries.

The largest solar power project in Wyoming — a $1.2 billion, 1.2-million panel farm — was given the green light Tuesday to start building. 

Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that the 771-megawatt solar farm will be built by Canadian energy giant Enbridge, and will supply electricity to data centers which will be built in south Cheyenne.

“Enbridge has gotten the green light on construction. I mean, it still has these little minor ones that it has to deal with, like, the air permit, which is usually pretty easy for a solar farm, but the construction permit is huge. And it’s going to be a huge bill that they’re gonna have to pay to build this – but… they have big customers, Meta and Microsoft.”

The solar power facility will generate enough electricity to light up more than 771,000 homes, more than in all of Wyoming.

A Gillette atheist who lost a lawsuit over prayers before public meetings is now suing to put the atheist 21 Rules alongside a 10 Commandments monument in a local park. Bruce Williams and the Hypatian Society, which is a religious or charitable “church” he co-founded, are also demanding about $240 million in damages in a federal lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.

“In his past state level lawsuit, Williams was complaining that he doesn’t get a proportionate number of invocations at public meetings in Gillette… But he added a new complaint saying, you guys have this Ten Commandments monument in city park, and it … infuriates that Williams doesn’t get to put up his 21 Rules associated with his atheist organization he co-founded that he calls a church.”

Willaims lost his prior state-level lawsuit and appeal against city officials — which presented other but similar complaints — because the city has sovereign immunity from being sued on his claims.

Sixteen members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus believe Wyoming has to make a swift, decisive response in fighting a new BLM rule issued last week that would end coal production in Wyoming’s energy-rich Powder River Basin by 2041.

The Freedom Caucus describes the new BLM rule as part “of the Biden administration’s anti-American, anti-energy ‘climate crisis’ agenda.” That’s according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.

“They believe he waited too long with a prior coal dispute involving a port in Washington that Wyoming was going to try to use for its coal production. The State of Washington blocked this at the time and it resulted in an eventual lawsuit. But that lawsuit was eventually rejected in 2021 by the US Supreme Court, likely because it had been filed too late.” 

Gordon, who did speak vehemently against the coal rule when it was announced last week, has already said he’s having Attorney General Bridget Hill pursue legal options to challenge it.

When the Hogs for Hope motorcycle rally rolls into Green River on Saturday in honor of a wolf that was tortured and killed in Daniel, it will be warmly welcomed at the local Harley-Davidson dealership, which is sponsoring an opening event that afternoon.

The rally and associated fundraiser is being organized by social media influencer and dog trainer Jonas Black, and Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that they are expecting quite a crowd.

“Nobody’s really sure how big the crowd’s going to be. It sounds as if, just judging by the social media chatter and how things seem to be going, it’s probably going to be quite a large crowd of bikers.… I also spoke with the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. They’re not anticipating any trouble, this group has advertised itself as a peaceful gathering. Law enforcement says okay, well, we hope you stay peaceful- just in case there will be, there will be an added law enforcement presence…. because there’s a lot of emotions around this. So just in case.”

The GoFundMe campaign for the Hogs For Hope rally has already raised $100,000 for wildlife conservation.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on cowboystatedaily.com. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel! I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.

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KOVE 1330 AM — Lander

KZMQ 100.3/102.3 FM — Cody, Powell, Medicine Wheel, Greybull, Basin, Meeteetse

KKLX 96.1 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep, Greybull

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KODI 1400 AM / 96.7 FM — Cody, Powell, Lovell, Basin, Clark, Red Lodge

KWOR 1340 AM / 104.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep

KREO 93.5 FM — Sweetwater and Sublette Counties

KGOS 1490 AM — Goshen County

KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County

Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A group of residents are coming together to help a Wyoming High School student who was sexually assaulted in 2023.

According to our partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer, the teen was receiving in-school counseling services through Best Point Education & Behavioral Health, a third-party service contracted with the school.

The Enquirer reported that the student’s family was notified that services would be ending due to an unpaid $500 bill.

Joe Brinkman and about a dozen other residents are involved in the Community Organization to Protect Wyoming Schools. On Sunday, the group was alerted about what the family was facing.

“We saw this as an opportunity where we could help reach out to the community and gather support,” Brinkman said.

A spokesperson for the district told the Enquirer it does cover counseling services provided by school counselors but it does not fund additional third-party counseling services.

“I don’t know why they have to cover any of this out of pocket. They shouldn’t have to,” Brinkman said. “The immediate need is to help the family continue the counseling services. That’s critical.”

On Monday, Brinkman and his group created a GoFundMe to help cover the teen’s current– and future– counseling expenses.

“Within eight hours, we reached our goal of $1,000,” he says.

Brinkman says he has been in contact with the victim’s mom. He says the donations that continue to pour in are going directly to the family.

“She was just very grateful. I am now speechless that we’ve been able to help this much,” Brinkman said.

Fighting back tears, Brinkman, who has two children attending Wyoming Local School District, and no personal relationship with the victim or his family, shared what he wants them to know.

“We care about them and they’re not alone. And that school should be a safe place for all kids,” he says.

FOX19 contacted the Wyoming Local School District and the third-party counseling service. We are waiting for their responses.

2 of 3 teens charged in connection with Wyoming HS sexual assault take plea deals

One teen has already been sentenced to probation. The second teen will be sentenced in less than two weeks, and the third teen going to trial will be back in court on June 3.

FOX19 will be at these hearings and will bring you the latest on these cases as we learn more.

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