Published July 23, 2026 12:31 pm
On May 3, Anthony Pollio, 33, was hiking in Glacier National Park Mount Brown Trail When a brown bear attacked and killed him. Now, new details about his final moments serve as a reminder of the risks of hiking alone after dark in eerie country.
The ten-mile difficult out-and-back trail is located in the heart of grizzly country. The National Park Service (NPS) wrote in its July 20 issue that Polio, who came from Florida, was hiking alone at night in unfamiliar terrain – all factors that put him at risk of attack. report On the incident.
Due to fallen trees and poor visibility both Polio and the bear were unable to notice each other until it was too late, turning a surprising encounter into a fatal one.
Chris Servheen, A grizzly bear expert who spent 35 years working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service told Outside The circumstances described in the report put polio at serious disadvantage. Although he released a canister of bear spray, investigators could not determine whether the spray hit the bear or whether Polio had enough warning to use it effectively.
“I’m not blaming him, because we don’t know exactly what happened and these things are always unfortunate,” Servheen said. But, he adds, bear spray doesn’t make you immune from hiking in the dark.
The Mount Brown Trail climbs to an elevation of more than 4,200 feet, and includes more than two dozen switchbacks. Investigators believe the bear rapidly ascended the trail near a switchback blocked by fallen timber.
“His path was littered with personal effects starting ten feet below the mark,” the report said. “We believe the bear continued to attack Mr. Polio downstream.” At one point, Polio was able to climb about 18 feet before the bear attacked again. The report described his injuries as “severe and fatal” and his cause of death as “crush on the head”.
Authorities described it as an intense but relatively brief encounter after which the bear left the area. There is no evidence that the bears considered polio prey. Using DNA, the park later identified the animal as a male grizzly at least 15 years old with no known history of conflict or aggression toward people. For these reasons, the review board of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee that published the report concluded that the attack was defensive, not predatory.
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, a team of grizzly bear experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming Game and Fish, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the National Park Service collaborated on the 17-page report. It offers a rare look at what can happen during a defensive grizzly bear attack – and why, in some cases, even properly deploying bear spray may not be enough to save your life.
Timeline of the 3 May attacks
6:30 pm Polio started his journey.
6:48 pm Polio left a voicemail for his father telling him that he was beginning his journey towards the search.
8:20 pm According to the report, Polio’s last communication was when he texted his girlfriend that he had “climbed 2,000 feet and more than 3 miles”.
8:49 pm Sunset in the park.
9:20 to 9:35 pm Investigators believe Polio walked into deep snow before reaching the summit, turned around and encountered the grizzly. Last light was at 9:24 pm, indicating that the attack began in near or complete darkness.
10 pm Polio would probably have died by this time.
On May 4, the NPS received a report of a missing hiker at 2:19 p.m., and less than an hour later began a search of the Mount Brown area. Searchers found his body just after noon on Wednesday, May 6.
Hiking at night can be fatal
“It’s a really bad idea to go hiking in the dark in alligator habitat, because they’re active at night,” Cerwin said. Outside. “They can see better, and you can hardly see. You’re really at a loss.”
The investigators drew similar conclusions.
“Mr. Pollio surprised an adult male grizzly bear on the Mount Brown Lookout Trail while hiking alone,” they wrote in the report. “We do not know whether Mr. Pollio was making any noise or not. He may have been using his cell phone’s flashlight,” it said.
While examining the scene, investigators found claw marks, a displaced rock, and an empty bear spray bottle of polio near the point where the bear had made contact after moving rapidly toward the trail.
“If you’re in a situation where sight distance is poor, you should be making a lot more noise than usual,” Servheen said. “If you get caught hiking in the dark, you should become a total noise machine.”
The report does not answer whether the spray came in contact with the bear, at what distance Polio deployed it, at what point the bear began attacking, or whether the man could see the bear during the attack. The steep angle of the slope would have made it more difficult to deploy bear spray directly toward the bear.
“Bears don’t want to meet people any more than you want to meet them,” Servheen said. “But you have to comfort them by making noise so they know you’re coming.”
Servheen says bear spray should be a hiker’s last resort.
“This is not a magic solution that will always keep you safe. Your best chance of staying out of trouble with a grizzly bear is to avoid an encounter in the first place,” he said.
