News: Conservationists Discuss The Future of Bear 399

Bear 399 may be the world’s most beloved grizzly bear.  A native of Grand Teton National Park’s Pilgrim Creek, Bear 399 has wowed tourists for years as she raised her cubs side to side with Jackson’s developing valley. 

At 26 years old, Bear 399 is older than most wild female grizzlies, which only adds to her allure. In January of 2020, many biologists were worried that she would not make it out of hibernation due to her older age. However, she emerged with four new cubs. This year, those cubs are yearlings and following their mom as they prepare for this winter. 

However, recent weeks have found the 399 clan in trouble. At a meeting hosted by Big Sky Town Hall in Big Sky, Montana, a group of conservationists came together to discuss the future of Bear 399 and the American grizzly as a species. 

Among those speakers were Tom Mangelsen, a renowned wildlife photographer most famous for his work concerning Bear 399; Dr. Chris Servheen a grizzly conservation advocate who oversaw many of the programs leading to grizzly recovery; and Dr. Jodie Hilty a premiere landscape thinker from Alberta, Canada.

What is Happening With Bear 399?

Bear 399 and her cubs have found their way into the Jackson residential areas which ultimately take them out of the protection of Grand Teton National Park and out of the jurisdiction of National Park lands. Part of this move is due to the changing elk migration paths caused by reduction hunts in Grand Teton National Park and the Elk Refuge. 

Grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region rely on abandoned gut piles to prepare for hibernation. These changing elk migrations mean that due to the hunting in Grand Teton National Park and the Elk Refuge, herds are choosing to avoid those areas and are therefore encountering other hunters in the wilderness surrounding Jackson’s residential areas. Bear 399 has followed, opting to gain her and her cubs nutrition from these gut piles. 

This past weekend, her encounters with unsecured beehives, livestock feed, and bird feed caused six federal agencies to move in a provocative measure. They used bait to lure her and her cubs and then attempted to trap them. The reason? They wanted to collar them for future tracking. 

After tranquilizing three of 399’s cubs, the agencies were successful in collaring two of the yearlings for future tracking. 

This move was controversial due to the public love of Bear 399 and the large force used to conduct the management operation. Tom Mangelsen called this use of force “brutal” and said it was “the most incredible act against Bear 399.”  

According to Mangelsen, after her cubs were tranquilized, she paced the highway with the remaining cub before sitting atop a hill to wait for them to catch up, before leaving the area. When she returned twelve hours later, the agencies involved re-released the cubs into her care. This was a “botched” operation in Mangelsen’s opinion as it was just short of a miracle that the family was even able to be reunited after such a stressful event. 

The reason for the collaring? 

According to Chris Servheen, the collars will be used by agencies to track the family and target the humans who are ultimately at fault for poor food storage. Unsecured food is the number one issue facing the American grizzly. 

Grizzlies learn their feeding behaviors from their mother. If habituated to access to human food in residential areas, bears will return to residential areas. This raises the likelihood of negative bear-human encounters and the likelihood that a bear will be labeled a problem and ultimately killed. 

63 grizzly bears were killed in Wyoming this year. Not all deaths were related to food issues, but the high number has been traced to the increased amount of human-bear encounters in 2021. 

Many bear enthusiasts are afraid the same fate may face Bear 399 and her cubs. However this problem is much larger than Bear 399. 

“She is a spokesbear for all the other bears,” Mangelsen stated, “It’s not just a Jackson problem — it is important across all of the Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming region.”

A Meeting of Conservation

The meeting kicked off with a recorded introduction from Dr. Jane Goodall as she urged the crowd to do what they could to protect the American grizzly.  Then, the panelists took over to discuss the problems facing grizzlies and the ways the public could act as advocates. 

What are the largest issues facing the American grizzly?

• Unsecured food storage and garbage sanitation methods
• Rampant development within formerly wildlands. 

“Most grizzly bears die by human hands,” Chris Servheen stated. 

This is due to the issues related to food storage and the rampant development of the west that is ultimately encroaching on wildlands. Politics haven’t helped. 

In Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, legislatures have repealed laws that prohibit hunting black bears with dogs — a law that has been in place since 1921; enacted sweeping “wildlife management” measures that allow widespread hunting of keystone species such as wolves; and are trying to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list. 

According to the town hall panellists, these ideologies are actively overturning science-based wildlife management strategies that have been in place for over 40 years. This “anti-predator hysteria” is actively endangering the ecological stability of the American West and endangering the future of grizzlies like 399. 

Jodie Hilty summed up the sentiments: “I wish people in the Northern Rockies would have pride that they get to live with these fabulous creatures.”

The Future of Grizzly Conservation

However, the door hasn’t closed for grizzlies just yet. 

Alberta, Canada is a province that has risen up in bear conservation and is in many ways well ahead of the American West on strategies for living peacefully in bear country. 

Canmore, Canada has all but eliminated human-bear encounters in town by switching to an entirely bear-proof solid waste system. In addition, BearSmart and WildSmart have introduced programs that allow tourists in the areas as well as locals to learn about the best principles for living and recreating in bear country. 

According to Hilty, this didn’t come easily. Albertans had to fight for conservation efforts, and she urges Americans in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to do the same. 

“The government needs to hear about this in a loud and united way,” she states, “the power of the people matters.” 

She tells the conservation-minded crowd to work together to create an entity that brings these issues into legislatures and city councils. She advises them to show the people in power the regulations that they want to see implemented. 

“We have incredible wildlife and wildlands. We need to do everything we can to help them,” Mangelsen added, “This is a miracle we have in our hands right now.”

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Alexandra Giese/Shutterstock.com