As quite possibly the last offspring of the world’s most famous bear, Wyoming’s Grizzly 399, her huge cub named Spirit faces an uncertain future when he takes off on his own, probably next May.
Of 399’s 18 known cubs, 10 have died. Most recently, a male cub from her 2020 litter of quadruplets was killed by wildlife agents shortly after separating from its mother and littermates in 2022.
The juvenile grizzly was killed for reportedly displaying dangerous behavior toward humans after hanging around settled areas.
Given Spirit’s adventuresome and independent nature, it’s assumed the cub is probably male, Wyoming wildlife photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
But the odds are good Spirit won’t gravitate toward settled areas and possibly meeting the same fate as the male cub in 2022.
“I'm optimistic. Yes, if it's a male, then next May after she kicks him out, he'll venture away in search of territory,” said Vangoidtsenhoven, who has extensively photographed and observed 399. “But it'll hopefully not be in the direction of Jackson, Hoback and beyond as he hopefully hasn't associated that direction with food rewards.”
Almost As Big As Mom
399’s fame can be partly attributed to her remarkable longevity. Grizzlies rarely live much past 25 in the wild, and she’s 28.
There was concern that she might not emerge at all from her den in spring 2023, so when she appeared with a new cub in May that year, her worldwide fanbase was delighted.
Of course, there was worry that, as one of the oldest grizzly moms on records, she might not live long enough to raise Spirit to independence, which is typically at age 2.
But bear experts told Cowboy State Daily that 399 will likely live long enough to finish raising Spirit.
The cub has been noted for his exceptional size. It’s thought that he’s so big because he doesn’t have any littermates to compete with.
He’s now nearly the same size as his mom, Vangoidtsenhoven said, and still has the rest of the summer and early fall to continue growing.
Let’s Hope He Stays Wild
Spirit has a good chance of avoiding the same fate as the cub that was killed in 2022 because his mom hasn’t been taking him around settled areas, Vangoidtsenhoven said.
It was a different situation with the 2020 quadruplet cubs, he said. Given the demands of feeding four hungry cubs, 399 traveled well south of Jackson in search of food sources.
“That included visits to ranches where they got rewarded by a variety of foods,” he said. “That also included regular visits to the notorious house in the Solitude subdivision, next to the airport, where the lady was caught feeding the bears on her back porch. She was even collecting the bear poop in jars in her house.”
But with only one cub to feed this time around, 399 has tended to stick to wild food sources and passing those lessons on to Spirit.
“As far as I know, Spirit has been spared that fate,” he said. “No Solitude subdivision free meals and no free ranch meals like the quads with beehives and the likes.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
