Black bear injures teen hiker in Washington state mountain area
A black bear injured a teenage boy hiking in a mountainous recreation area outside Seattle on Tuesday, officials said, prompting a closure of the trail where it happened.
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The boy was scratched when the bear charged and “swiped” at him in the early afternoon about 2.7 miles up Mount Si Trail, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
He was one of three people hiking together along the trail in the the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area, the department said in a statement.
“His injuries were very minor, but he was of course terrified,” King County Sheriff’s Office deputy Peter Linde told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle. “The bear tossed him around a little bit, but nothing serious. He’s on his way to the hospital right now to be checked out, get the wounds clean, and maybe get some antibiotics.”
King County Search and Rescue crews responded alongside the department’s own officers and transported the teen to a hospital for treatment, the fish and wildlife department said.
A separate group of hikers had another black bear encounter Tuesday when the animal followed them closely for “several miles,” the department said.
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No other injuries were reported.
Fish and wildlife officials ultimately closed the Mount Si Trail so officers could search for the bear, it said.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources said other nearby trails, including the Little Si and Mount Teneriffe trails and trailheads, have been closed “until further notice due to bear activity.”
“Please stay out of the area,” it said.
The state has recorded one death from a black bear encounter, in 1974. Twenty encounters have resulted in injury since 1970, the latest before Tuesday’s incident taking place in 2022, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area, a scenic state landmark composed of four mountain peaks, is about 35 miles east-southeast of Seattle.
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