A 33-year-old Florida deacon who surprised a grizzly bear on a Montana trail plunged 93 feet downslope during the mauling, climbed partway back up, and was killed when the animal attacked again, an interagency investigation found.
Anthony Pollio fully discharged his bear spray during the encounter on Glacier National Park's Mt. Brown Lookout trail on May 3, but the canister was not enough to stop an adult male grizzly that investigators say he and the bear likely never saw each other coming. An interagency report released July 20 concluded that darkness and fallen timber along the trail left both hiker and animal with almost no warning before the collision turned fatal, the New York Post reported.
Pollio's body was not discovered until May 6, three days after the attack, roughly two and a half miles up the Mt. Brown Trail, in a densely wooded stretch about 50 feet off the main path. His death marked the first fatal bear attack at Glacier National Park since 1998.
The report reconstructed the attack in stark detail. Pollio surprised the grizzly on the trail, and the bear responded with what investigators described as a defensive reaction. During the initial mauling, Pollio tumbled 93 feet downslope, "probably while the bear continued its attack," the report stated.
The bear then briefly halted. Pollio managed to climb 18 feet back up the slope. But the grizzly reengaged and killed him.
Investigators characterized the encounter as "likely brief and intense and not prolonged." The report's central finding was direct:
"Mr. Pollio appears to have been the victim of a defensive attack by a surprised grizzly bear."
The bear itself, investigators determined, "appears to be a lifelong resident of the park" with no prior history of attacking humans. The report did not say whether the animal was euthanized, relocated, or left in the park.
The interagency findings pointed to conditions on the trail as the decisive factor. Fallen trees, known as deadfall, and low light combined to block sightlines.
"Darkness and deadfall on the trail would have prevented the bear and Mr. Pollio from seeing each other until they were very close."
Pollio's last known communication was sent around 8:30 p.m. on May 3, after he had told contacts he planned to hike toward the Mt. Brown Fire Lookout, Fox News reported. That timing placed him on the trail at dusk or later, exactly the window the report flagged as highest-risk for bear encounters.
Glacier National Park is home to roughly 1,000 black bears and grizzlies, including an estimated 300 grizzlies as of 2023. The park's trails cut through some of the densest bear habitat in the lower 48 states.
Pollio was no novice in the backcountry. A native of Davie, Florida, he had hiked through the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The Glacier trip was part of a two-week road trip through the West.
He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in hospitality. When he was not on the trail, his father described him as a "motorhead" who cruised around Florida. He also served as a deacon at his local Catholic church, where he preached regularly.
His father, Arthur Pollio, told the Sun Sentinel that Anthony had left him a voicemail as he set off on the hike, a habit throughout the road trip. Anthony sounded out of breath as he recounted his day. The message ended with a single word: "Love you."
Arthur Pollio called his son "fearless" and said Anthony packed more living into three decades than most people manage in a lifetime:
"His life experiences in 33 years, some people don't get to do 'til they're 90 or their whole life."
Alongside the report, investigators issued a set of bear-safety reminders for park visitors: stay alert, avoid traveling alone, carry bear spray at all times, and refrain from making noise such as "talking, singing or clapping" that might startle wildlife. The report also urged hikers to "avoid traveling at night, dawn, or dusk when bears are most active."
Pollio carried bear spray and used all of it. But his last known message placed him on the trail near dusk, the very time frame the report cautioned against. Whether he was hiking alone has not been confirmed in any public account of the investigation.
Trails leading from Lake McDonald Lodge were temporarily closed after the body was discovered while wildlife and law enforcement teams assessed the area for ongoing bear activity, AP News reported. A park statement at the time confirmed that Pollio's injuries were "consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter."
Fatal bear attacks at Glacier remain rare. The last one before Pollio's death occurred in 1998, a span of more than 27 years. But the park's grizzly population is substantial, and encounters between bears and hikers are not uncommon in the backcountry, particularly on less-traveled trails at low-visibility hours.
The interagency report did not recommend any changes to trail access, signage, or bear management at the park. It offered safety guidance but stopped short of addressing whether additional warnings at trailheads, particularly about dusk and nighttime hiking, could reduce the chance of another surprise encounter.
Several questions remain unanswered. The report did not disclose which agencies composed the interagency team. It did not say what became of the bear. And it did not address whether Pollio was hiking alone, a detail that would bear directly on one of its own safety recommendations.
Anthony Pollio did what the safety books tell you to do, he carried bear spray and emptied the canister. The wilderness does not always grade on effort. But a man who lived large, served his church, and called his dad to say he loved him deserved better than to meet a grizzly in the dark on a trail where neither one could see the other coming.
