Many of the adult bears in Grand Teton National Park are tagged by the National Park Service for tracking purposes. We have been following one bear "family" since last summer.
Female grizzly bear #399 is the most famous bear in Grand Teton National Park and is the only bear that has her own postcard. She has had several sets of cubs during the 15 years she has lived around Colter Bay Village. In January 2006, grizzly bear #399 had 3 cubs, one of the cub females was tagged as bear #610. Again in the spring of 2011, #399 had 3 cubs and daughter #610 had her first set of offspring of 2 cubs.
Female grizzly bear #399 is the most famous bear in Grand Teton National Park and is the only bear that has her own postcard. She has had several sets of cubs during the 15 years she has lived around Colter Bay Village. In January 2006, grizzly bear #399 had 3 cubs, one of the cub females was tagged as bear #610. Again in the spring of 2011, #399 had 3 cubs and daughter #610 had her first set of offspring of 2 cubs.
Here is #399 with her 3 cubs following behind. The large hump, which is actually muscle mass right behind the shoulder, is a quick way to identify #399 as a grizzly bear.
The 3 cubs are seen frolicking in a stream.
One of #399's cubs wants to climb a tree.
#610 with her 2 cubs following closely behind. The hump behind the shoulder is more noticeable here.
#610 with her 2 cubs coming towards the camera.
A close-up of #610. Notice the ears are round and proportionally small, another characteristic of a grizzly bear.
Currently, one of #399's cubs was left behind and #610 is now taking care of this wayward cub as well as her own 2 cubs. A possible reason for this switch from bear experts is that #610 adopted one of #399's cubs after #399 had an altercation, possibly with a large male grizzly.
We give photo credit to Bob Davis, who works with Ann at the Colter Bay Campground. He follows the bear sightings several days a week and is adamant about protecting the bears in the wild. The photos above were all taken before the recent cub switch.
Although we seen some bears this summer, we have not actually seen these grizzly mothers and cubs, just heard about their sightings from guests and coworkers. With our remaining time here this summer, we hope to see either #399 or #610 with her cubs. We came close last Friday night when we stopped along the road coming back from Jackson. However, new National Park Service rules require you to stay with your vehicle if you pull off the road to watch wildlife. From accounts of others parked near us, we think it was #399 and her two cubs, but they were too far from the road for us to get our own photos.
We give photo credit to Bob Davis, who works with Ann at the Colter Bay Campground. He follows the bear sightings several days a week and is adamant about protecting the bears in the wild. The photos above were all taken before the recent cub switch.
Although we seen some bears this summer, we have not actually seen these grizzly mothers and cubs, just heard about their sightings from guests and coworkers. With our remaining time here this summer, we hope to see either #399 or #610 with her cubs. We came close last Friday night when we stopped along the road coming back from Jackson. However, new National Park Service rules require you to stay with your vehicle if you pull off the road to watch wildlife. From accounts of others parked near us, we think it was #399 and her two cubs, but they were too far from the road for us to get our own photos.
Some great pictures!
ReplyDeleteReally neat pics!
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