According to Dana Soehn with the National Park Service, a hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was bitten by a bear.

Soehn says the hiker was asleep in his tent when the attack happened. She said the bear bit through the tent and into the hiker's lower leg. This happened Tuesday just after 11 p.m.

The hiker did not see the bear or any other backpackers at the time of the attack. All the other backpackers in the area gathered in nearby shelters for the rest of the night.

Soehn said after the backpackers were safe inside the Spence Field shelter, the bear came back and tore through the victim's tent and another hiker's tent.

The 49-year-old victim was a thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail. He is recovering at Blount Memorial Hospital.