She was 28 years old which is a good run for a grizzly bear around “these parts.” Quite a few don’t make it past grade school before they are snuffed out…by a bullet or a needle. Cubs become instant orphans. 399 made a habit out of dodging bullets and needles and hordes of humans tracking her life journey. You see, none of that phased her. All she cared about was living, surviving, raising her babies and minding her own business. Dying never entered her mind. Thousands of humans inserted themselves into her life…trailing her like bloodhounds, stalking her like mindless Hollywood paparazzi, clicking away, searching for the perfect shot. She didn’t care. She never attacked a bowhunter or a hiker or a snoopy photog. Never got into the garbage or rousted a campground. She just tended to her daily duties like wild critters do. How fitting her long life ended when a human finally ran her down. At that very moment, grizzly bear #399 became more than a number slapped on her by a human biologist. She became a martyr. A symbol.
All she ever wanted was to live in peace.
A female grizzly bear that delighted visitors for decades in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park has been struck and killed by a vehicle
- MEAD GRUVER Associated Press
- 12 hrs ago
Grizzly bear 399 and her four cubs feed on a deer carcass on Nov. 17, 2020, in southern Jackson Hole.
- RYAN DORGAN – member, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE – Grizzly bear No. 399 and her four cubs cross a road as Cindy Campbell stops traffic in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Nov. 17, 2020.
- Ryan Dorgan – member, ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A famous grizzly bear beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton National Park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming.
Grizzly No. 399 died Tuesday night on a highway in Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, park officials said in a statement Wednesday, adding the driver was unhurt. A yearling cub was with the grizzly when she was struck and though not believed to have been hurt, its whereabouts were unknown, according to the statement.
The circumstances of the crash were unclear. Grand Teton and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said they had no further information to release about it.
At 28 years old, No. 399 was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts eagerly awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed over the winter — then quickly shared the news online.
Named for the identity tag affixed by researchers to her ear, the grizzly amazed watchers by continuing to reproduce into old age. Unlike many grizzly bears, she was often seen near roads in Grand Teton, drawing crowds and traffic jams.
Scientists speculate such behavior kept male grizzlies at a distance so they would not be a threat to her cubs. Some believe male grizzlies kill cubs to bring the mother into heat.
The bear had 18 known cubs in eight litters over the years, including a litter of four in 2020. She stood around 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall and weighed about 400 pounds (180 kilograms).
Hundreds of visitors at times would gather at a wide meadow to see her in the evenings, recalled Grand Teton bear biologist Justin Schwabedissen.
Some youngsters “just thought that was just the coolest thing in the world to see a bear out there, cubs wrestling in the wildflowers,” Schwabedissen said.
Another time he met a just-retired Midwest factory worker whose dream was to see a bear in the wild.
“She was in tears that night from being able to have an opportunity to see her,” Schwabedissen said.
News of the bear’s death spread quickly on a Facebook page that tracks the grizzly and other wildlife in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. By late Wednesday more than 2,000 people posted comments calling the bear a “magnificent queen,” an “icon” and an “incredible ambassador for her species.”
They were heartbroken and devastated by her death, calling it a tragic loss.
The momma bear had fans all over the world, said tour guides Jack and Gina Bayles, who run the Team 399 Facebook page and planned to visit the site where she was killed.
“You might say she was the accidental ambassador of the species,” Jack Bayles said. “My single biggest concern is that people are now gonna lose interest in bears.”
The grizzly lived through a time of strife over her species in the region, as state officials have sought to gain management control over grizzlies from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the bears’ numbers have rebounded past the point of being at risk.
Conservation groups have objected, saying climate change imperils some of the bears’ key food sources including whitebark pine cones.
Some 50,000 grizzlies once roamed the western United States. But outside Alaska they are now confined to pockets in the Yellowstone region and northern Rockies. They dwindled in the Yellowstone region to just over 100 animals by 1975, when they were first protected as a threatened species.
The region encompassing Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and surrounding areas in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho is now home to some 1,000 grizzlies. They remain federally protected but in an ongoing tug-of-war between political and court decisions have bounced off and back on the threatened list twice in recent years.
Government biologists say the population is healthy and officials from the three Yellowstone states continue to seek their removal from federal protection.
On average, about three grizzlies annually in the region are killed in vehicle collisions, with 51 killed since 2009, according to data collected by researchers and released by the park. No. 399 was the second grizzly killed in the region by a vehicle this year.
“Wildlife vehicle collisions and conflict are unfortunate. We are thankful the driver is okay and understand the community is saddened to hear that grizzly bear 399 has died,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce said in the statement.
Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.
UPDATE: Grand Teton National Park grizzly 399 cremated, ashes spread | News | bozemandailychronicle.com
And this: Letter to the editor: Grizzly 399’s death begs questions about coexistence.
Bozeman Chronicle
- Chrissy Pepino
As a mother and conservation advocate, I write to reflect on the recent death of Grizzly 399, an iconic matriarch who captured the hearts of many and symbolized the tenuous balance between wildlife conservation and human encroachment.
Grizzly 399 was more than just a bear. She became a living legend, not only because she raised numerous litters near roads and human settlements but also for how she seemed to thrive in a world increasingly hostile to her kind. Her life was a testament to the resilience of grizzlies and their ability to adapt in the face of tremendous challenges. But her death is a stark reminder of how fragile this coexistence is.
Grizzly bears, once pushed to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states, have made a remarkable recovery thanks to the protections under the Endangered Species Act. But that progress is fragile. Habitat loss, climate change, and the ever-growing human footprint continue to threaten grizzlies. Bears like 399 are increasingly forced into closer contact with people, which often leads to tragic outcomes, as we have now seen.
Her death raises important questions: Are we doing enough to protect grizzlies? Are we giving them the space they need to thrive, or are we forcing them into corners where survival becomes impossible? Grizzly 399’s ability to coexist with humans, without the aggressive behavior that often leads to relocation or lethal removal, made her exceptional. But for every 399, there are countless other bears who don’t fare as well, especially as human populations grow and development continues to encroach on bear habitat.
As we mourn the loss of this beloved bear, we must also recommit to protecting the species she represented. Let’s honor her legacy by maintaining legal protections, securing and expanding their habitat, and fostering a culture of coexistence.
Chrissy Pepino
Bozeman