The famous grizzly bear 399 was struck and killed Tuesday evening, Oct. 22, by a car in the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson on Highway 26.
At age 28, she was the oldest known reproducing female in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Photos of the popular mama bear and her cubs circulated the world.
“It's just really surreal,” said one local photographer, Sue Cedarholm, who captured pictures of grizzly bear 399 for almost 20 years. “She's an old bear, and we knew her time was coming to an end, but you just hate to have it be with a car accident.”
She urged people to remember grizzly 399’s legacy. She was the first roadside bear in the Tetons, raising her many cubs in and around Grand Teton National Park.
“She raised so much awareness for bears and grizzly bears,” Cedarholm said. “So I think we have to remember how lucky we were to have her in our lives and what a great bear she was.”
399 was the inspiration of a career for Wilson native Syler Peralta-Ramos. Early one morning, before he could drive himself, Peralta-Ramos, 26, convinced his dad to drive him into Grand Teton National Park. They were north of Pilgrim Creek when Peralta-Ramos saw her across the road: 399 with two yearlings.