Reports of third bear attack in Arkansas aren’t accurate, Game and Fish says

A spokesman with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Wednesday that two hikers’ encounter with a black bear in the Ozarks over the weekend was much less dramatic than social media posts and some news reports would suggest.

On Monday, the Ozark Highlands Trail Association posted an account of a “non-fatal attack” on two backpackers camping about two miles east of White Rock Mountain. The campers “had to defend themselves the entire night against an aggressive black bear,” the post said. (The Ozark Highlands Trail Association is well-known in Arkansas hiking circles — it’s the decades-old nonprofit behind the creation of the OHT itself, a beloved backpacking trail that winds for more than 200 miles through the heart of the Ozark National Forest from Lake Fort Smith to the Buffalo R