A famous grizzly bear beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton national park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming.
Grizzly No 399 died on Tuesday night on a highway in Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, park officials said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 28 years old, the bear was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed over the winter.
Named for the identity tag affixed by researchers to her ear, she amazed all by continuing to reproduce into old age. Unlike many grizzly bears, she was often seen near roads in Grand Teton, drawing crowds and traffic jams. Scientists speculate such behavior was to keep male grizzlies at a distance so they would not be a threat to her cubs. Some believe male grizzlies kill cubs to bring the mother into heat.