Grizzly bear #399 is killed in a vehicle attack in Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – 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 evening on a highway in the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, park officials said in a statement Wednesday, adding that the driver was uninjured. A one-year-old cub was with the grizzly bear when it was struck. It is not believed to have been injured, but its whereabouts are unknown, the statement said.

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.

At 28 years old, #399 was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Every spring, wildlife enthusiasts eagerly waited for her to emerge from her den to see how many young she had given birth over the winter – and then quickly shared the news online.

Named for the identity tag researchers attached to its ear, the grizzly amazed observers by reproducing into old age. Unlike many grizzly bears, she was often seen near roads in Grand Teton, attracting crowds and traffic jams.

Scientists speculate that such behavior kept male grizzly bears at a distance so that they did not pose a threat to their cubs. Some believe that male grizzly bears kill their cubs to put 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 about 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall and weighed about 400 pounds (180 kilograms).

Sometimes in the evenings, hundreds of visitors would gather in a wide meadow to see them, recalls Grand Teton bear biologist Justin Schwabedissen.

Some youngsters “just thought it was the coolest thing in the world to see a bear out there with his cubs wrestling in the wildflowers,” Schwabedissen said.

Another time, he met a newly retired factory worker from the Midwest whose dream was to see a bear in the wild.

“She cried that night because she had the 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 wrote comments calling the bear a “magnificent queen,” an “icon” and an “incredible ambassador for his species.”

They were heartbroken and devastated by her death, calling it a tragic loss.

The mama bear has fans all over the world, said tour guides Jack and Gina Bayles, who run Team 399's Facebook page.

“You could say she was the accidental ambassador of the species,” Jack Bayles said. “My biggest concern is that people are now losing interest in bears.”

The grizzly faced a period of conflict over its species in the region as state officials attempted to gain management control of the grizzly bears from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Conservation groups have objected, saying climate change is threatening some of the bears' key food sources, including whitebark pine cones.

About 50,000 grizzly bears once roamed the western United States. But outside of Alaska, they are now restricted to areas in the Yellowstone region and the northern Rocky Mountains. By 1975, when they were first protected as an endangered species, their numbers in the Yellowstone region dwindled to just over 100 animals.

About 1,000 grizzly bears now live in the region, which includes Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and surrounding areas in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. They remain protected federally, but in an ongoing tug-of-war between political and judicial decisions, they have landed on the endangered list twice in recent years.

Government biologists say the population is healthy and officials from the three Yellowstone states continue to try to remove them from federal protection.

On average, about three grizzly bears in the region die in vehicle accidents each year, with 51 killed since 2009, according to data collected by researchers and released by the park. No. 399 was the second grizzly killed by a vehicle in the region this year.

“Collisions and conflicts with wildlife vehicles are unfortunate. We are grateful that the driver is OK and understand that the community is saddened to hear that Grizzly Bear 399 has died,” Angi Bruce, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said in the statement.

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Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.