A hiker from Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been killed in an apparent bear attack inside Glacier National Park in Montana, the first human fatality from a bear at the park in 28 years.
Anthony Pollio, 33, was reported missing Monday May 4, 2026, after failing to return from a solo hike toward the Mount Brown Fire Lookout on the park’s west side.
Search and rescue crews found his remains on Wednesday May 6 approximately 50 feet off the Mt. Brown Trail in a densely wooded area with downed timber.
The National Park Service said in a Thursday press release that his injuries were “consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter.”
The investigation is ongoing. No bear species has been officially identified. Multiple trails in the Lake McDonald area have been closed while wildlife and law enforcement personnel assess the area for bear activity and public safety concerns.
The last fatal bear attack at Glacier National Park occurred in 1998, when Craig Dahl died on the Scenic Point Trail in the Two Medicine Valley.
The last time a bear injured a human in the park before this incident was August 2025, when a 34-year-old woman sustained injuries to her shoulder and arm.
Pollio’s family spoke to Local 10 News in South Florida on Friday. His father, Arthur Pollio, described his son as someone who was not unprepared for the outdoors:
“Anthony was a fearless man. He was an experienced hunter. Tons of experience. Educated. Very smart.”
His brother Nicholas explained what Anthony had been trying to do. “He saw a trail. It was only a few miles. It was daytime. His intention was to go up and see the sunset from the fire watch tower.”
What Happened?
Pollio was last heard from at approximately 8:20 PM on Sunday May 3, when he sent a message saying he was hiking toward the Mount Brown Fire Lookout.
His vehicle was discovered parked at Lake McDonald Lodge, near the trailhead for the Mt. Brown Trail, after he failed to return. The park was officially notified of his disappearance Monday afternoon.
A multi-agency search began immediately. Among the organizations involved were Flathead County Search and Rescue, North Valley Search and Rescue, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Minuteman Aviation, the Civil Air Patrol, the Montana Army National Guard and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office alongside National Park Service rangers.
The terrain on the Mt. Brown Trail is demanding, a 10-mile round trip that climbs more than 4,000 vertical feet through switchbacks and dense vegetation where wildlife encounters can happen with very little warning.
At noon on Wednesday May 6, search crews located Pollio’s body 2.5 miles up the trail, roughly 50 feet off the path in a heavily forested section with fallen timber. His injuries were consistent with a bear attack per the park’s official statement.
The family believes he was attacked on his way back down from the lookout. Arthur Pollio shared his theory with Local 10 News.
“We think on the way down he encountered a grizzly bear. I believe he was probably accosted by the bear. Used the bear spray. He might have ran from there. I think the bear may have chased him down, grabbed him by the shoulder.” The family’s belief that a grizzly was involved has not been confirmed by park officials, who have not yet publicly identified the species.
The Mt. Brown Fire Lookout Trail And Why It Carries Risk
The Mt. Brown Fire Lookout trail is not a casual hike. It is a strenuous out-and-back that covers 10 miles round trip and gains more than 4,000 feet of elevation, the equivalent of climbing a significant mountain and descending it in a single outing.
The Flathead Beacon noted that the trail involves “numerous switchbacks and blind corners that could lead to surprise wildlife encounters.”
That specific characteristic, blind corners in dense vegetation, is one of the most significant factors in close-range bear encounters in Glacier National Park. Both grizzly bears and black bears live in the park.
Grizzly bears tend to respond to surprise encounters more aggressively than they respond to bears who detect human presence from a distance.
The dense tree cover and irregular trail geometry of the Mt. Brown area creates conditions where a hiker and a bear can come face to face with very little advance warning for either.
The elevation the trail reaches, the fire lookout sits at approximately 7,487 feet, also takes hikers through terrain that black bears and grizzly bears use regularly as they move between lower elevation foraging areas and the park’s high ridgelines.
Evening and early morning hours are periods of higher bear activity. Pollio’s last known location at 8:20 PM was consistent with a descent from the lookout in fading light.
The First Attack In 28 Years
The last fatal bear attack in Glacier National Park before this week occurred in July 1998, when Craig Dahl was killed near Scenic Point in the Two Medicine Valley on the park’s east side.
That incident prompted a significant reassessment of bear management protocols in the park and contributed to the development of the mandatory bear canister and bear spray policies that Glacier later adopted.
In the 28 years between Dahl’s death and Pollio’s, there were bear encounters that resulted in human injuries, most recently in August 2025, when a 34-year-old woman was injured by a bear that struck her shoulder and arm on a trail in the park.
No human being had been killed by a bear inside Glacier’s boundaries in nearly three decades.
The park’s visitor numbers have grown substantially in that same period, Glacier now receives approximately three million visitors per year, and its bear population has been stable.
The rarity of fatal encounters across that 28-year span reflects both the effectiveness of bear safety education that the park provides and the reality that the vast majority of bear encounters in Glacier, including many that are not reported, end without serious injury to either party.
The protocols that evolved after 1998, carrying bear spray, making noise on trails, hiking in groups, avoiding hiking at dawn and dusk in high-activity areas, are evidence-based practices that reduce encounter risk substantially.
None of that changes what happened on the Mt. Brown Trail on the evening of May 3.
Trail Closures And What They Mean For Visitors
The National Park Service closed the section of the Mt. Brown Trail where Pollio’s body was found as soon as the discovery was made. As the investigation has continued, the closure has expanded.
A wide expanse of trails on the west side of Lake McDonald, between the Sperry and Lincoln Lake trailheads, has been closed while rangers and wildlife biologists assess the area for ongoing bear activity and public safety risk.
The affected trails include the Mt. Brown Lookout trail, Snyder Lake Campground trails, the access route to Sperry Chalet, one of the park’s most historically significant backcountry lodges, and the Lincoln Lake Campground trails.
The closures affect some of the most heavily visited terrain on Glacier’s west side during the early season, before the Going-to-the-Sun Road opens to full vehicle traffic.
Glacier National Park officials have not announced when the closures will be lifted.
The standard protocol following a bear encounter that results in human injury or death is to close the area, locate the bear if possible, assess its behavior and determine whether it poses an ongoing risk before reopening the trails.
In some cases, bears involved in serious encounters are euthanized, a decision the park makes based on specific criteria about the nature of the encounter and the bear’s behavior.
No announcement has been made about a specific bear being located, trapped or euthanized in connection with Pollio’s death as of Friday morning.
What Glacier Visitors Need To Know
Glacier National Park is home to an estimated 300 grizzly bears and a larger population of black bears.
Both species are present throughout the park, with grizzly bears more commonly found in open meadows, avalanche chutes and high-elevation terrain and black bears more commonly found in forested areas.
The Mt. Brown Trail passes through both types of habitat as it climbs from the forested shores of Lake McDonald toward the alpine terrain near the lookout.
Every visitor to Glacier National Park is strongly encouraged to carry bear spray and know how to use it, removing the safety and presenting the canister before a bear closes within 30 to 60 feet and deploying a cloud of capsaicin spray between the hiker and an approaching bear.
The park’s own research and the accumulated research of bear biologists consistently finds that bear spray is more effective at deterring attacks than firearms in close-range surprise encounters.
Making noise on the trail, talking, clapping, using bear bells, reduces the probability of a surprise encounter by giving bears advance notice of human presence.
Hiking in groups is significantly safer than hiking alone. Avoiding hiking at dawn, dusk and after dark in high-activity areas limits exposure to the times when bears are most active.
The Mt. Brown trail, as described in trail reports, has sections of heavy vegetation and multiple blind corners where those precautions matter most.
The investigation into Pollio’s death continues. The trails in the affected area remain closed.
What caliber weapon was he carrying? 45 ACP or any shotgun slug is adequate bear protection.