World famous grizzly bear fatally struck in Wyoming had yearling cub with her

A beloved grizzly bear known as an ambassador for her species was fatally struck on a highway in Wyoming, National Park Service officials said Wednesday. 

Grizzly bear 399, who got her name through a research number assignment in 2001, had a yearling cub with her when she was hit on a highway in Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, authorities said. The cub’s whereabouts are unknown, but there’s no evidence to suggest that it was injured. 

The driver is OK, officials said. While the circumstances of the fatal crash were not immediately clear, authorities said 49 grizzly bears died because of vehicle collisions between 2009 and 2023. 

Grizzly bears generally live to be around 25, though some in the wild have lived for over 35 years, according to the Fish & Wildlife Service. Grizzly bear 399 was 28 when she was killed.

Wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen previously described the bear as his muse.

“Her intelligence, her behavior, her beauty,” Mangelsen told “60 Minutes” in 2018. “The fact that she’s had all these offspring. There’s not many bears that I know of that’s had three sets of triplets.”

In 2020, she was spotted with four cubs.

Mangelsen is not alone in appreciating grizzly bear 399. People from around the world followed her for decades, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Hilary Cooley.

“At 28 years old, she was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” Cooley said.

Her identity was confirmed through ear tags and a microchip. 

Before 1800, there were an estimated 50,000 grizzly bears living throughout 18 western States, including Wyoming, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. By 1975, the population in the 48 contiguous states was reduced to between 700 to 800. 

After decades of being listed as threatened in the lower 48 states under the U.S.  Endangered Species Act, the population has grown to at least 1,923 grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states.