An ode to 399: Fans and friends pay their respects to the beloved grizzly bear

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Photographers, wildlife guides and animal lovers all over the world are mourning the loss of grizzly bear 399. The popular mama was hit by a car earlier this week near Jackson, Wyoming.

She was the oldest known reproducing female in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, raising at least 18 cubs.

Known for hanging out near roadways, photos of the mama and her cubs circulated the world. She became an icon for conservationists, changing the way people think of grizzly bears.

We hear from some of the people grieving the loss of the bear known to some as the “Queen of the Tetons” — starting with a photographer who helped give her that title.

These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Grizzly 399 and her three cubs in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (Thomas D. Mangelsen / © Thomas D. Mangelsen / Mangelsen Stock Agency)

Tom Mangelsen:  I first met 399 in 2006 in the early fall. That was the beginning of my love affair with her. Year after year for 18 years, I would see her and her offspring.

She lost one cub about 12 years ago. She went out to the highway, picked up the little carcass and took it into the woods and laid it down by a big log, and then she went up and down the highway for all night bawling and foaming at the mouth. It’s like she didn’t quite calculate that she had lost her cub somehow.

I don’t have kids, but I have a couple of special dogs and I’ve had animals all my life. I’ve never lost an animal that’s affected me as much as 399 getting killed.

Joanna Alhum: I’ve lived in the area for a little over six years, and I work at Teton Science Schools. We had a really special moment of getting to see 399 – and when I say we, I refer to my two daughters. We were so incredibly privileged to get to see her and her four cubs stroll right across the road and cross the creek. I have a very vivid picture of my 3-year-old hanging out of the car window calling out, ‘I see you, 399.’

I shared the news with them last evening. My 8-year-old just dropped to the floor, kind of crumpled and started crying. I think they felt very sad that it had been human-caused. It was really hard for them to accept.

Sam Nierman:  I’ve predominantly been working in education and conservation for different organizations throughout the [Jackson] valley here. It’s something that I’ve been pondering and thinking about for quite some time. How is the legacy of this just spectacular bear going to come to an end?

I mean, I think we are fully the guilty party here. We more or less nurtured this animal to feel okay being a roadside bear. I say this with tremendous grief: This is like the logical death, right? A roadside bear being hit by a car.

399 was like our sports team. She was this kind of galvanizing force that unified so many people and people fought for her. They cheered for her. They cared about her.  And it’s devastating to lose such a force here. Hopefully we can just come together and continue to live and embody her legacy.

Grizzly bear 399 with one of her cubs in Grand Teton National Park. (Syler Peralta-Ramos)

Kevin Taylor: I’m a naturalist and guide in Jackson, Wyoming. A bunch of my co-workers and I were in the midst of a staff meeting, and we actually started the staff meeting with, ‘Hey, everybody by this time has heard the news of 399 being hit by a car. How are people feeling?’ And to me, what an incredible example of, like, we need to debrief the loss of this grizzly bear.

One of the amazing things about living and working and teaching in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is that instead of giving PowerPoint presentations about grizzly bears, we’re watching grizzly bears. And seeing 399, with cubs oftentimes, no doubt has been, over the years, a real sticking point for a lot of people in this ecosystem.

Renee Seidler: I’m the executive director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation. Grizzly 399 made it really clear that there are bears in town that are searching for garbage, barbecues, birdseed, livestock, grain.

She was a catalyst for change for us to kind of get our ducks in a row on regulations and code, and to work towards being able to enforce those things, so that we really are living not adjacent to the wildlife, not in conflict with the wildlife, but living with the wildlife, with the wild animals being safe and us being safe.

Suzanne Turnbull: I live in Poplar, Montana. I am a caretaker of our Yellowstone buffalo here. As a Native American person, we feel, we believe that we’re all related. So I see her as a mother, like I’m a mother. They’re not just an animal, they’re a spiritual being as well. It was just really sad that that’s the way it ended. But humans and wildlife don’t always find a perfect balance of existence. She represented everything that is wild and free.

One Wyoming composer, Anne Guzzo, wrote a musical piece a few years ago, when grizzly 399 lost one of her cubs. Holly Mulcahy and Barb Scowcroft are on violin, Anna Krueger is on viola, Karen Freer is on cello and Skip Edwards is on bass.

“This is for her and all the bears of Grand Teton,” Guzzo wrote this week in a Facebook post. 

You can listen to that song below.