Updated
Updated · KOMO News · Jun 18
WDFW Ends Mount Si Bear Search After 2 Teens Were Hurt
Updated
Updated · KOMO News · Jun 18

WDFW Ends Mount Si Bear Search After 2 Teens Were Hurt

3 articles · Updated · KOMO News · Jun 18

Summary

  • WDFW said Wednesday it has stopped searching for the black bear that charged three hikers about 2.7 miles up Mount Si trail, scratched one teenage boy and left another teen with a twisted ankle while fleeing.
  • Officers and King County Search and Rescue cleared and closed the trail Tuesday, but they found neither the attacking bear nor a second, smaller bear reported by another hiking group.
  • Mount Si, Little Si and Mount Teneriffe trails are set to reopen at 8 a.m. Thursday, with bear-awareness signs posted at trailheads and no additional search planned.
  • Washington has recorded about 20 black bear encounters causing documented human injuries since 1970; the state's only fatal black bear attack was in 1974.

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?