Fans of Raspberry, one of Yellowstone National Park’s most beloved and popular grizzly bears, fear that she’s dead, perhaps killed by another bear.
Raspberry apparently hasn’t been seen in about two months, wildlife photographer and Raspberry devotee Deby Dixon told Cowboy State Daily.
The carcass of a female bear was discovered in Yellowstone in June, and fans worry the carcass is Raspberry’s.
Raspberry’s yearling cub has also gone missing, Dixon said.
There’s no way to tell for sure if the dead female bear, which apparently was killed by another bear, was Raspberry, Yellowstone spokeswoman Linda Veress told Cowboy State Daily.
“We cannot confirm that the bear killed in early June in the Sylvan Pass area of the park was one called ‘Raspberry’ since we do not have DNA samples from ‘Raspberry,’ or the bear that was killed (from prior to its death),” she said “We can't compare them to determine if it is the same bear or not.”
Dixon has been watching and photographing Raspberry since 2013, and said she fears the worst.
“At this point, I think we’re fooling ourselves” to think that Raspberry is still alive, she said.
“I’d rather have her alive than be right about that,” she added.
Raspberry has for years been a favorite among Yellowstone National Park’s grizzlies. Her fans worry that she might have been killed by another bear in June. (Courtesy Deby Dixon Photography) 
Raspberry, left, with her 3-year-old cub Jam in the summer of 2023 in this file photo. (Photo Courtesy Mark Perry, Bridger Peaks Photography)
Raspberry’s Mother Killed And Partially Ate A Man
It could be said that Raspberry is, or was, the Grizzly 399 of Yellowstone.
Grizzly 399, Wyoming’s most famous bear, lived mostly in and around Grand Teton National Park and was dubbed “Queen of the Tetons.”
As is the case with some of Grizzly 399’s offspring, some of Raspberry’s cubs grew up to be famous themselves. Most notably, Jam and Snow.
Raspberry is the offspring of another hugely famous grizzly, Blaze.
In 2015, Blaze was killed by wildlife officers after she fatally mauled Lance Crosby, 63. Crosby was a seasonal employee for Medcor, which runs urgent care clinics in Yellowstone.
He went missing while hiking. His partially-consumed body was found in the vicinity of Lake Village, according to news reports at the time.
As a testament to Blaze’s fame and popularity, roughly 130,000 people signed a petition admonishing park officials to spare her, but to no avail.
Blaze had two cubs with her at the time, which were sent to a zoo.
Raspberry’s Last Fight?
Dixon said that if the female grizzly carcass is Raspberry’s, it’s thought that she died defending her cub.
Large boars (male grizzlies) will sometimes kill cubs that aren’t theirs. They do so attempting to bring the mother bears back into heat so they can mate with them and impregnate them with their own cubs.
A boar grizzly is reported to have been spotted near the female grizzly carcass, Dixon said.
Raspberry also was suffering from an old hip injury, Dixon said. That might have hampered her ability to fight.
The worst-case scenario is that a male killed both the cub and the already-weakened Raspberry, even if he hadn’t intended to kill the female, Dixon said.
Bears Having An Unlucky Streak
Raspberry’s possible death is the latest in a string of bad luck for famous Yellowstone and Grand Teton grizzlies.
In October 2024, Grizzly 399 was struck and killed by a vehicle south of Jackson.
Her last cub, Spirit, fled the scene unharmed, but hasn’t been seen since. Many fans have all but given up hope that Spirit survived the winter alone.
In May, another of Grizzly 399’s offspring, Grizzly 1058, a 5-year-old-male, was struck and killed by a vehicle in Grand Teton.
Another of Grand Teton’s famous bears, Grizzly 1063, had three yearling cubs with her this spring.
In May, two of her cubs were killed by a male grizzly. Some claim that the Park Service hazing Grizzly 1063 and her cubs away from settled areas left them vulnerable to attack.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
