Grizzly 399 is a very famous female bear from the Grand Teton National Park located in Wyoming, south of Yellowstone. She was well known in the area but came to international attention by NOT killing a high school science teacher who accidentally spooked her and her three cubs back on 2007. She charged him, he tripped, and she planted one front foot on his back and bit him in the butt twice as a warning. He was rescued before she did any more damage but he said it was his fault not hers.
Because of this encounter, millions of people stated coming to the park. 399 is comfortable in the developed area and so is easier to sight along the highway. She carefully teaches her cubs to navigate traffic as the highway to date has no animal overpass as does Banff. This has created many a traffic jam requiring Park Ranger assistance to sort out as people stop their cars and jump out to get pictures.
This article: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1129/Saga-of-the-world-s-most-famous-grizzly tells how she became famous and describes the tenuous situation of the Grizzly bears in Montana and Wyoming. 399's travels have also been recorded by noted wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelsen who has published his best in a book called "Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek". The trailer for the book can be seen here: https://youtu.be/fJ-bOdhyPZo.
In the spring of 2020, at the age of 24 years, she emerged from her winter den with quadruplets a very rare occurrence with Grizzlies. And then took them down south of the Park to Jackson Hole, a deep mountain valley and noted ski resort, for the summer. There was a great sigh of relief when the five of them showed up in late December back in the Park and headed for their winter den. Sometime this fall she will abandon them to their own devices having raised them and taught them as much as she can. She will den up for the winter and if a miracle happens, become pregnant again next season and have a new litter in January 2023.
This article: https://www.grizzlytimes.org/single-post/2020/06/04/grizzly-miracle-grand-teton-s-399-emerges-with-quadruplets. provides more information about her and her four cubs as well as the dangers bears face both in the Park and especially outside the Park where they are viewed by Wyoming Game and Fish (WGF) as a nuisance. of the Grizzlies which die every year, 80% are shot by hunters or officials. 399 has had six litters of which three were triplets and this last one quads. But only one of her daughters, 610, has successfully raised a litter.
A new children's book about 399 has recently been published. Grizzly 399, by Sylvia Medina and illustrated by Morgan Spicer, with photos by Tom Mangelsen. https://www.amazon.ca/Grizzly-399-Paperback-Environmental-Heroes/dp/193987162X
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| Coming home in the fall of 2020 |
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| 399 and yearlings 2018 |
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| 610 and yearlings 2020 |
Thank you for the information and the enchanting videos of a majestic animal I will probably never see for myself (and yes I am wearing my pouty face).
ReplyDeleteEC, you are welcome but please come to Canada or USA and visit our parks with bears.
DeleteI would love to - if only the borders would open before I am too old to travel.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Long may she live and thrive!
ReplyDeleteEC, I sure hope it does. I'd like to go to Canada to visit my kids too
ReplyDeleteDebra, at 25 years old she is pretty old for a wild Grizzly. The oldest wild Grizzly is around 32, they say. But it sure would be nice if the old girl hung around a few more years
Long may she live and continue to successfully raise her Young. It's so harsh for the Natural World to co-exist around our Species, we are the REAL Nuisance Animals.
ReplyDeleteDawn, I hope so too. At least one more litter. Wild grizzlies are an endangered species and should be declared off limits everywhere. We are indeed a nuisance predator.
ReplyDeleteGosh I hope their winter den has enough room for all 5 of them. It's fine when they are little fluffy cubs but those four youngsters looks enormous! I guess they will just cuddle up and keep each other warm. A huge pile of grizzly fur.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting these pictures and the story. She's a lovely but scary creature, but I wouldn't really want to meet her face to face! Long live Grizzly 399!
Shammickite, Yes, meeting her face to face is not something I would want either. That is why long range lenses are good to take pictures of grizzly bears. Those four babies are good size for sure but they will cuddle up no doubt. I do hope she has at least one more litter but she is 25 and has only had 6 so they are spread out pretty good.
ReplyDeleteBear cubs are so adorable, but seeing them on video is as close as I ever want to come. Especially grizzlies!
ReplyDeleteA mother black bear with two cubs was hanging around about a kilometre down the road from us last summer. We used to see them now and again at the side of the road as we drove by. As cool as it was to see them up close, I hated knowing they were in such a populated area. There's just no win-win solution when humans start taking over bear habitat.
Diane, yes, video is the best way to view grizzly bears, adults or cubs, though the idiots in National Parks take their lives in their hands to do foolish things. Black bears are a different matter. A mother with cubs will very rarely charge you unless surprised at close quarters. Even then she will likely just try to scare you away. The cubs will go up the nearest tree. Enjoy your black bears.
ReplyDeleteAt this time only one comment is applicable-everyone go and listento your favourite version of "Uncle Walter goes Waltzing With Bears.
ReplyDeleteBlair, that is the best laugh in a long long time.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/kzptru9pK9E