Bears

A new study asks whether 100 years of plush redesign has turned the wild’s most feared predator into a comfort object—and changed how we think about nature itself

The duo sustained non-life threatening injuries in the attack, and were able to drive themselves to a local hospital

A 29-year-old hiker was attacked earlier this week in Yellowstone National Park, plus millennia-old petroglyphs were reportedly damaged during construction at an Arizona church. Outside has you covered in this edition of our weekly news roundup.

A 29-year-old solo hiker suffered "significant but non-life-threatening" wounds in the attack, which occurred on the Turbid Lake Trail

I knew the safety rules. I didn’t follow all of them. Here’s what happened when a black bear charged me on my hometown trail.

Hikers in British Columbia and Montana successfully fended off attacking bears in two separate incidents using this compact deterrent.

The proposal would allow for the killing of nearly 200 black bears over a three-week period in December

The author breaks down a bizarre story involving a trashed car, grainy surveillance video, and a fuzzy bear suit

Katmai's famous Fat Bear Week contest is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary—but for the first time, its biggest star is nowhere to be found. We pay tribute to a true champion.

Don’t just chuck it in the trash. Here’s the right way to get rid of your spent bear spray.

Mammoth Lakes locals and the Bishop Paiute Tribal Council were outraged and want others to learn from the tragic incident

He earned an A for resourcefulness and an F for sharing

The footage is breathtaking

The reintroduction of the apex predators to Washington’s North Cascades National Park has local communities asking if it’s still safe to hike in the park

More fodder for your "Honey, we need a dog," argument

Wes Siler argued that shooting a bear to make a rug is, in fact, good for bears. I disagree.

A draft plan would introduce 3 to 7 bears per year into the North Cascades over the next decade

A grizzly-curious writer decides to train as a bear guide in British Columbia, and surprises himself along the way

This week, 12 of Alaska’s chubbiest bruins will face off in a bracket for the title of Fat Bear Week Champion. Here’s what you need to know.

Officials found the victims on Saturday morning and euthanized a bear that exhibited aggressive behavior

Our list includes a pair of doughnut thieves in Alaska, a selfie taker in Colorado, and the tripod of Orlando

Learn from the mistakes of our hiking columnist, who suffered a painful accident while traversing the Continental Divide Trail

The live footage from Katmai National Park usually shows grizzlies. But on September 5, a man appeared on the livestream and mouthed “help.”

The internet is flooded with clips of people making bad decisions at America’s oldest national park. Backpacker editor Adam Roy thinks the latest cringeworthy clip is the worst one to enter the oeuvre.

The attack occurred during an organized bear hunt in northern Sweden

The delinquent black bear—who is actually a female—was finally trapped by officials near South Lake Tahoe

There’s been a series of encounters in recent weeks. Research suggests that killing bruins isn’t the best way to prevent attacks.

A hiker found the woman’s body on a popular trail near the national park

During his first wilderness job, a chance encounter with a bear left the wildlife biologist with a profound respect for nature that has endured ever since

The bear attack happened near Bearhole Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia, where most of that country’s grizzlies live

Authorities say the unleashed mutt provoked the bruin, and have closed a popular trail near Asheville

A Montana trucker accidentally ran over the cub on a desolate stretch of road. Then, the mother bear showed up.

Tips and tricks to keeping your food safe and your camp bear-free

Encounters between bruins and campers led the forest service to shutter the areas

Two humongous male grizzly bears square off in one of the craziest, most mesmerizing battles caught on video

Sharing a habitat with bears, wolves, lions, and other big wild animals can be complicated, and not always safe or predictable. Here’s what I know.

In collaboration with Backpacker, this is our guide to wild ursines

Luckily for the bear, a wildlife official arrived and rescued it from the chilly predicament

Data of Sasquatch sightings in a new preprint finds a strong correlation with bear population density

A mother and her one-year-old son died after being mauled in the coastal town of Wales

This bruin’s journey across four states is a reminder that hikers and campers should be extra careful with food and trash

The real story is weirder and sadder than what we saw in the film’s bonkers preview

Two agencies will investigate bringing grizzlies back to the Pacific Northwest

Alone in the wilderness, facing a grizzly that was determined to kill him, Colin Dowler had only one option: fight for his life.

Northwest College teammates Brayden Lowry and Kendell Cummings suffered serious injuries after fighting off an aggressive bruin in Wyoming

On these expert-led trips, you’ll spot the National Park System’s wildest residents, from mysterious wolves to fat bears. Pro tip: the bioluminescent fireflies are pretty cool, too.

Despite being one of the most popular destinations in the U.S., the Smokies make it easy to plan a last-minute trip and avoid crowds year-round. Here’s our definitive guide on what to know before you go, how to make the most of all the park has to offer, and can’t-miss experiences in every season.

Rangers in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are asking hikers to be mindful of bears

Lessons learned at camp sometimes do come in handy

Our favorite wildlife competition crowned an aging winner this year, and reminded us that for the chubby bears we love, the stakes will always be high

To live in the small town of Haines, Alaska, is to live with bears, with roughly one brown bear for every nine human residents. Last winter, a local snowboarder woke a hibernating brown bear in the backcountry and was severely injured, furthering tensions between food-stressed bears and anxious local residents. But in most encounters, it’s the bear that ends up dead, prompting the question of what it means to coexist.

Grizzly and black bears have killed five people in North America over the last five months. Is this cause for concern?

Despite warnings, rules, and common sense, tourists in Yellowstone keep approaching bears and bison.

Katmai, in southern Alaska, is one of the few places where you can safely get up close and personal with a brown bear while it’s feeding—a life-list event says our 62 Parks Traveler about the 38th stop on her quest to visit every national park in the U.S.

Mountaineers come to summit this Alaskan park’s namesake 20,310-foot peak, the highest in North America. Our 62 Parks columnist set out on a mountain bike to see the stunning terrain and bountiful wildlife during the 36th stop of her quest to visit every national park in the U.S.

What I learned and how to avoid my mistakes

A recent incident involving a renowned wildlife photographer allegedly baiting foxes at Grand Teton sheds light on a larger issue

A close encounter in the far north offers powerful lessons about how Native people have chosen to live alongside a dangerous predator

Kale Williams’s new book, ‘The Loneliest Polar Bear,’ offers readers an adorable polar bear cub—and a roving, clear-eyed exploration of climate change and how the bears captured the public imagination

A University of Colorado Boulder skier tells the story of a camping trip gone awry

The ursine inhabitants of the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center test dozens of containers each year to see if they're worthy of bear-proof certification

These affordable digs are within driving distance from major cities but feel like far-away escapes

With more than a hundred 11,000-foot peaks, five glaciers, and some 150 alpine lakes, Colorado's most popular park has served as an idyllic backdrop for some of our writer's bigger life moments: it's where he proposed to his wife, where his kids earned their first Junior Ranger badges, and where he said goodbye to someone special. While you'll be among 4.7 million visitors who visit every year, there's something personal to be found here.

Years of underfunding and climate change are increasingly threatening the national park system. From the Everglades in Florida to Glacier in Montana, here are the ones we stand to lose.

Here's how to assess when it's safe to do so

My DIY exposure therapy didn't work

From surf cams to Fat Bear Week, live nature feeds inspire adventure and offer a break from reality

Nikita Ovsyanikov has spent decades studying polar bears on a remote Siberian island to better understand their behaviors

As red-rock meccas like Moab, Zion, and Arches become overrun with visitors, our writer wonders if Utah's celebrated Mighty Five ad campaign worked too well—and who gets to decide when a destination is "at capacity."

As one of the northernmost settlements on earth, the Norwegian hamlet of Longyearbyen has become a magnet for adventurous souls looking to start a new life. But when an unsettling crime happened, it brought home a harsh reality: in the modern world, trouble always finds you.

After a breaching humpback nearly landed on Tom Mustill's kayak, the wildlife filmmaker became consumed with trying to understand the massive mammal. The result is PBS's ‘The Whale Detective.’

Featuring fat bears, Pattie Gonia, a very good boy, and more

Everything is easier to understand with visuals

Scientists turn to high-tech solutions to protect a threatened population

After losing his bear spray, Colin Dowler was caught with nothing but a tiny Buck knife

Every year, explore.org calls on its A-team to capture the rotund glory of Katmai National Park’s brown bears