Grizzly 399 stands to get a better look at the growing crowd of bear watchers while her four cubs play. Photograph: Thomas D Mangelsen/mangelsen.com
Posted on 06/09/2020 7:07:45 AM PDT by SJackson
Grizzly 399 stands to get a better look at the growing crowd of bear watchers while her four cubs play. Photograph: Thomas D Mangelsen/mangelsen.com
‘399’, at 24 one of the oldest grizzlies living outside a zoo, becomes symbol of bears’ recovery in Yellowstone ecosystem
Supported by SEJAbout this content Todd Wilkinson in Moose, Wyoming
Tue 9 Jun 2020 05.30 EDTLast modified on Tue 9 Jun 2020 08.50 EDT Shares 448 Grizzly 399 stands to get a better look at the growing crowd of bear watchers while her four cubs play. Grizzly 399 stands to get a better look at the growing crowd of bear watchers while her four cubs play. Photograph: Thomas D Mangelsen/mangelsen.com A few weeks ago, a nature photographer who lives near Yellowstone national park sent a four-word text message to Dr Jane Goodall, the British primatologist.
“Miraculously, she still lives!”
The photographer, Thomas Mangelsen, was referring to a grizzly bear known as “399”, probably the most famous wild bruin in the world. Aged 24, not only is she one of the oldest grizzlies living outside a zoo, she has also continued having cubs to a venerable age, becoming a poster child for the recovery of bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
And no grizzly has done more, through her own behavior, to change a perception that members of her species are temperamental menaces ready to attack people at the slightest provocation.
Advertisement In mid-May, the 350lb grand dame emerged in Yellowstone, striding alongside Pilgrim Creek. Trailing close behind the matriarch were four cubs, born this winter in a wilderness den high in the snowy backcountry.
Mangelsen has been chronicling the life and times of 399 for nearly 15 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Big family
Why didn’t you go up to the bear and greet her properly? Oh....bears attack humans.
So ... this grizzly is likely a cougar?
Looks like the line of customers is forming up for your hummingbird feeder. Git going now, and remember... 1/4 c sugar per 8 oz. water...
I think, with a mammal like that near the top of the food chain, they all have to be treated as if they were "temperamental menaces ready to attack people at the slightest provocation".
I am sure in the bear world, there are mellow, non-aggressive creatures just like there are in the human world.
But I think it is just as much of a mistake to make that non-threatening assumption with bears as it is to make it with humans.
Who is this “399”? Is she smarter than the average bear?
Dunno, but from the looks of this gal, it's obvious that some fella was wearing bear goggles.
Wow! Four of them.... so cute.
Evidently not this one. The article says she’s not temperamental, or anything like that. By the way, here’s a photo of her entertaining the tourists last year. But you gotta wonder - what happened to the guy who owned the guitar?
Strangely, Wyoming is missing their naked cowboy.
We lived in Alaska for 25 years and saw quite a few sows with cubs in the springtime - twins are common, triplets are rare, but quadruplets? Wow.
FTA: And no grizzly has done more, through her own behavior, to change a perception that members of her species are temperamental menaces ready to attack people at the slightest provocation.
Yeah right, just try to walk up the grizzly with her cubs and see what happens.
She’s 24, practice must make perfect
That’s unusual for four cubs! If a bear has two cubs only one usually makes it.
Unlikely all four will survive due to forces of nature, hope that’s a trend, sign of a good ecosystem.
Walking up to bear cubs with momma near by is not an unprovocative act. It is an attempt earn a Darwin Award. Bears will defend their cubs from any perceived threat. But, and conceding odd exceptions, most bears do not attack humans w/o provocation of some kind.
Unfortunately, both the definition of said provocation and the terms of the response are left to only the bear.
JMHO, casually walking up to any animal with young is a chancy prospect and the further up the food chain, the greater the potential for harm.
I suppose that, along with a distaste for the company of idiots (which may be interchangeable with tourists and/or wildlife photographers) is the reason why I've not been to Yellowstone in spite of living within sight of the place.
I've got quite enough wildlife around The Homestead already thank you very much.
“JMHO, casually walking up to any animal with young is a chancy prospect and the further up the food chain, the greater the potential for harm.”
+1
The big furry Boo-Boos are out up here but I have never seen more than 2 cubs with the Momma. The pic of all 4 cubs and Momma was great!
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