20-Year-Old Grizzly 399’s Cub Dies In Hit And Run Near Pilgrim Creek In Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park – On Sunday night or early Monday morning, a hit and run near the Pilgrim Creek drainage on the main road through Grand Teton National Park claimed the life of a bear cub named “Snowy.”
Snowy is the offspring of Grizzly 399 – a world famous grizzly bear. After her cub was hit by the car Grizzly 399 tried to care for her cub before she pulled the cub off the road into the Pilgrim Creek drainage. This area has been temporality closed by park officials to give 399 some space.
399 turned 20 last winter. She is a symbol “for the challenges facing the survival of her species.” She has gained a following of grizzly bear enthusiasts and frequents GTNP roadsides. In 2007, she mauled a hiker who stumbled upon her and her cub’s fresh elk kill. That hiker pleaded with rangers to spare the bear.
399 is responsible for 16 descendants, but more than half have died due human encounters including “being illegally killed by a big game hunter, two have been struck by cars, others destroyed for menacing cattle, or removed for venturing too close to human development” (NationalGeographic.com).
Due to her age Grizzly 399 is nearing the end of her reproductive life. Snowy may have been 399’s last cub. This is a sad way to start summer 2016 and this incident is sparking an outrage on social media.
Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone are federally protected as a threatened species. They have made an excellent come back since they were marked as an endangered species in 1975. Now there are between 600 and 1000 grizzly bears in the 22.5 million acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
This year 37 large animals have been killed on the roads of Grand Teton National Park. One hundred are killed per year on average.
If you’re visiting or playing in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, be sure to bring your bear spray.
