A grizzly bear super mum famous for showing tourists her cubs at the roadside has given birth to her 17th baby despite being one of the oldest grizzlies to live outside a zoo.
In the wild grizzly bear sows don’t live long past 26 years, but 24-year-old Bear 399 who inhabits the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming has just produced a new litter.
Remarkably she has had four cubs, which itself is extremely rare as bears on average only have two or three.
A grizzly bear super mum famous for showing tourists her cubs at the roadside has given birth to her 17th baby despite her old age
In the wild grizzly bear sows don’t live long past 26 years, but 24-year-old Bear 399 has just produced a new litter
Even more remarkably she has had four cubs, which itself is extremely rare as bears on average only have two or three.
Grizzly 399 is the most famous brown bear mother in the world and even has her own Facebook and Twitter accounts.
She is famous at her home in the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, for being visible at roadsides with her family. It’s thought the successful mother learned to use roads and areas popular with tourists to avoid males who can sometimes kill youngsters.
The tactic has paid off for 399 who has become one of the most successful documented grizzly parents in history. And as these adorable photographs show, 399’s latest brood show all the signs of making it to become new additions for the national park.
Grand Teton, along with the famous Yellowstone National Park to the north, is home to around 750 grizzly bears.
399 is famous at her home in the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, for being visible at roadsides with her family
It’s thought the successful mother learned to use roads and areas popular with tourists to avoid males who can sometimes kill youngsters
The tactic has paid off for 399 who has become one of the most successful documented grizzly parents in history
Kate and Adam Rice took these amazing photographs of the bear mum walking with her new brood. Adam said: ‘We weren’t sure if she would have cubs again in her advanced age, let alone four, which is extremely rare.
‘We were shocked when we heard the news that she had four cubs, it seemed like her way of proving us wrong. Kate said she and Adam, who works as a photographer at the park, had fallen in love with bears together.
She said despite 399’s love of places near people she was still very much a wild bear and shouldn’t be approached, especially with her cubs.
She said: ‘She often grazes in meadows near the road, which provides an excellent opportunity for people to get a little glimpse into the life of a wild bear.
‘Female bears in national parks will often raise their cubs near the roadside as it is thought they use people for protection from dangers such as male grizzlies who threaten the cubs.’
Kate and Adam, who are originally from Minnesota, live fulltime in their own van home so they can be close to the animals and park they love so much.
Kate said: ‘We got started with wildlife photography in northern Minnesota. For our honeymoon, we took a road trip to Yellowstone and fell in love with the Western United States and started taking regular trips to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
She said despite 399’s love of places near people she was still very much a wild bear and shouldn’t be approached, especially with her cubs
Kate and Adam, who are originally from Minnesota, live fulltime in their own van home so they can be close to the animals and park they love so much
‘We became obsessed with bears after our first close encounter with a grizzly bear.
‘We were photographing marmots and felt a shadow fall behind us, upon turning around we saw a large male grizzly bear walk right by us without a care in the world.
‘We were in awe of the big animal and it was apparent we were no longer the top of the food chain. There is no feeling like hiking in bear country, it puts you on high alert and your head on a swivel. After that first encounter, we were obsessed.’
Grizzly bear 399 was born in 1996 and first tagged by researchers in 2001 as part of a study of bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
In 2011, 399 made headlines when she and her five-year-old daughter, 610, both started raising cubs in the same area.
In what is thought to be the first recorded of behaviour of its kind, 610 adopted one of 399’s three cubs and raised it as her own successfully to adulthood.