- A hiker was rescued in Katmai National Park after getting lost in poor visibility and bad weather conditions.
- Desperate for help, the stranded man stumbled upon a wildlife camera and signaled for assistance.
- Sharp-eyed fans watching the camera feed during the popular Fat Bear Week event spotted the hiker’s distress signals and alerted authorities, leading to his rescue.
A hiker lost in the Alaskan wilderness was saved by an unlikely hero: fat bears.
The man found himself lost during a hike in Katmai National Park, facing poor visibility and challenging weather conditions. Such situations are considered dangerous, even in less extreme trails like the Dumpling Mountain overlook trail recommended by the Katmai National Park Service.
While struggling to find his way, the hiker came across a wildlife camera that became his lifeline. Desperately, he made gestures signaling for help, mouthing the words “help me” and “lost,” as reported by the BBC. His distress signals were captured by the camera and witnessed by fans who were anticipating Fat Bear Week.
The timely coincidence was that the camera attracting a surge of live viewership due to the upcoming Fat Bear Week, an event that allows fans to identify and celebrate the largest bears as they prepare for hibernation. The fans, vigilant in their bear-watching, wasted no time in alerting the authorities about the stranded hiker.
In response to the fan reports, Katmai park rangers quickly launched a search operation and successfully located and rescued the hiker within four hours. The efficiency of the rescue operation was credited to the collaboration between the dedicated bear cam fans and the park rangers.
Explore.org, the organization responsible for operating the wildlife cameras, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their gratitude towards both the fans and the park rangers. Their tweet read, “Bear Cam saves a hiker’s life!”
“That was a first for the bear cams for sure,” said Mike Fitz, a naturalist with Explore.org and the creator of Fat Bear Week, in an interview with The Washington Post. He emphasized the challenging weather conditions during the rescue mission and commended the fan cam watchers for their crucial role in the successful rescue.
Representatives from Explore.org and Katmai National Park have not yet responded to Insider’s requests for comment.
The livestream of the rescue mission allowed concerned viewers, who had previously alerted the authorities, to witness the rangers locating and rescuing the hiker. The sense of relief and admiration was palpable in the livestream chat, with commenters expressing their emotions and acknowledging the rapid response of the rangers.
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