Updated
Updated · KOMO News · Jun 17
Bear Injures 2 Teen Hikers on Mount Si, Closing Trails as Officers Hunt Animal
Updated
Updated · KOMO News · Jun 17

Bear Injures 2 Teen Hikers on Mount Si, Closing Trails as Officers Hunt Animal

3 articles · Updated · KOMO News · Jun 17

Summary

  • Two teen hikers were hurt on Mount Si Tuesday after a bear charged a youth group; one teen was attacked and another twisted an ankle while fleeing.
  • King County deputies said the attacked teen became separated from the group during the encounter, then made it back and was assisted down the mountain by search crews before going to a hospital with non-critical injuries.
  • At 2:35 p.m., Eastside Fire & Rescue and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife closed Mount Si trails and sent armed officers to search for the bear.
  • Officials later identified the animal as a black bear with cubs and said the teen was released from the hospital that night; Washington has recorded 20 black-bear injury encounters since 1970.

Insights

As thousands of hikers meet 22,000 bears, are popular Washington trails becoming unavoidable zones of conflict?
When a mother bear defends her cubs, is a death sentence the only answer for wildlife managers?
Bear spray is the top defense, but why do so many hikers still venture into the wild unprepared?