{"id":171965,"date":"2025-09-21T14:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/171965\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T14:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:31:10","slug":"nearly-20-years-old-now-grizzly-610-is-the-heir-apparent-to-her-mom-grizzly-399","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/171965\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 20-Years-Old Now, Grizzly 610 Is The Heir Apparent To Her Mom, Grizzly 399"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grizzly 610 has done some amazing things by the standards of her species,\u00a0living\u00a0nearly 20 years and raising 11 cubs\u00a0so far, but it\u2019s unlikely she\u2019ll\u00a0ever match the legacy\u00a0or popularity\u00a0of her mother, Grizzly 399.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grizzly 399 became Wyoming\u2019s most famous and beloved bear, snagging a worldwide fanbase the likes of which would have made many human celebrities envious.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was widespread shock and mourning after\u00a0she was struck and killed<\/a>\u00a0by a vehicle south of Jackson in October 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grizzly 610 was born to Grizzly 399 in 2006. She\u2019s established quite the following of her own, but it\u2019s doubtful she\u2019ll inherit the throne as\u00a0\u201cQueen of the Tetons\u201d;<\/a>\u00a0that title will forever be reserved for her mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grizzly 610 isn\u2019t as readily visible as Grizzly 399 was,\u00a0famed wildlife photographer\u00a0Tom Mangelsen, told Cowboy State Daily.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grizzly 399 frequently took her cubs near highways and to other highly-visible places, whereas Grizzly 610 is more reclusive, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think 399 was a special anomaly in the bear world, not likely to be repeated by 610, even though she is related so closely to 399,\u201d Mangelsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mangelsen photographed Grizzly 399 and her cubs for years, and his images were a driving force behind her fame.<\/p>\n

\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, the most famous offspring of Grizzly 399, has had numerous cubs of her own over the years. (Courtesy Tom Mangelsen)Arrow leftArrow rightWyoming\u2019s Wildlife Rock Stars<\/p>\n

Grizzly 399 and Grizzly 610 weren\u2019t Wyoming\u2019s first wildlife celebrities, and they won\u2019t be the last.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among grizzlies, there have been numerous fan favorites, including Bruno, Grizzly 1063, Strawberry, Jam and Blondie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even before 399 established her following, a lumbering male bear named\u00a0Scarface<\/a>\u00a0was famous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And celebrity status isn\u2019t limited to just one species. Hoback the bull moose and the late Wolf 907F helped put Wyoming on the map as a wildlife watchers\u2019 destination. \u00a0<\/p>\n

And, of course, there\u2019s\u00a0Limpy the Coyote<\/a>. He\u2019s mastered exaggerating a leg injury and making sad faces, hoping to sucker tourists out of snacks in Yellowstone National Park. (Just a reminder, feeding park wildlife is strictly forbidden).<\/p>\n

Wild animals gaining celebrity status has put professional wildlife managers\u00a0in a quandary.<\/a>\u00a0They worry that sentimental feelings over individual creatures might detract from the serious species-level biology that drives wildlife biology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others argue that animal celebrities capture attention far beyond Wyoming and help educate people about the importance of wildlife conservation.<\/p>\n

And Grizzly 610 is much beloved, no doubt. That became clear when she was stuck and injured by a vehicle in Grand Teton National Park in 2023.<\/p>\n

She languished in pain for hours near the roadside, leaving many agonizing over whether she\u2019d make it. There was relief and joy when she recovered and\u00a0rejoined the three cubs<\/a>\u00a0she had at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visibility Counts\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s thought that Grizzly 399 started bringing her cubs close to crowds to protect them from marauding male bears.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Male grizzlies will sometimes kill cubs that aren\u2019t their own, in order to put the mother bear back into heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In May, a male grizzly killed two of\u00a0Grizzly 1063\u2019s three cubs<\/a>\u00a0in Grand Teton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Grizzly 610 is frequently seen, she doesn\u2019t seem to tolerate gawking throngs of admirers as well as her mother did, Mangelsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGrizzly 399 became famous for not only being the first resident grizzly in Teton Park in some 50 years, but in her acceptance of being near highways, her visibility with cubs and her demeanor, which was more calm than 610\u2019s,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wyoming wildlife photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven, who has taken numerous photos of Grizzly 610, agreed\u00a0that\u00a0she\u2019s more difficult to find than Grizzly 399 was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she has the potential to take over for her mom. Her demeanor is not as accommodating or as friendly towards park visitors,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, she seems to have less of a predictable home range compared to her mom. Generally speaking, she is much less visible and photographable,\u201d Vangoidtsenhoven said.<\/p>\n

While Grizzly 399 might not have been less camera-shy, it can be argued that Grizzly 610 is better-looking, Mangelsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think her beauty is more than 399\u2019s was, which may be subjective, but others agree. Her head more square, her saddle is more blonde and her composition more pleasant,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, born in 2006, is the most famous offspring of Wyoming\u2019s beloved Grizzly 399. However, it\u2019s doubtful she will ever reach her mother\u2019s level of fame. (Courtesy Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, born in 2006, is the most famous offspring of Wyoming\u2019s beloved Grizzly 399. However, it\u2019s doubtful she will ever reach her mother\u2019s level of fame. (Courtesy Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, born in 2006, is the most famous offspring of Wyoming\u2019s beloved Grizzly 399. However, it\u2019s doubtful she will ever reach her mother\u2019s level of fame. (Courtesy Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven)\"GrizzlyGrizzly 610, born in 2006, is the most famous offspring of Wyoming\u2019s beloved Grizzly 399. However, it\u2019s doubtful she will ever reach her mother\u2019s level of fame. (Courtesy Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven)Arrow leftArrow rightCub Count<\/p>\n

When Grizzly 399 was still alive, she and Grizzly 610 occasionally had overlapping range.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2011, that led to Grizzly 610 adopting one of Grizzly 399\u2019s cubs. Grizzlies are known to adopt one another\u2019s cubs from time to time.<\/p>\n

That cub is still alive, along with five of the 10 natural offspring that 610 had.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t have cubs with her this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is The Age Of Roadside Grizzlies Over?<\/p>\n

Grizzly 399\u2019s fame might not\u00a0ever\u00a0be repeated because of changing policy, Mangelsen and Vangoidtsenhoven said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will ever tolerate another bear behaving like 399 near roads ever again,\u201d Mangelsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Agencies seem determined to haze bears away from roadsides, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith their (the agencies) attitudes towards bears, including wanting to take them off the Endangered Species list, the days of seeing numbers of bears along roadways are history, I\u2019m afraid. Pretty sad, but 610 will never be a roadway bear and replace 399\u2019s fame because of those attitudes,\u201d Mangelsen added.<\/p>\n

The Pilgrim Creek area in Grand Teton used to be grizzly central, but that might have changed, Vangoidtsenhoven said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that 399 is gone, a new bear may move into her home range around Pilgrim Creek, or one of the existing bears, like 1063 could become the new celebrity that is easily watchable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, park policy seems to be leaning toward pushing bears away from such places, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat once was a great area around\u00a0Pilgrim\u00a0Creek was one of the only locations in the Lower 48 where you could observe grizzly bears. Today it seems to be solely managed to be the highway to Yellowstone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fame and high visibility can hurt bears, wildlife photographer and grizzly watcher Deby Dixon told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrizzly 399 had to pay a huge price for being famous because she was never left alone,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grizzly 610 has done some amazing things by the standards of her species,\u00a0living\u00a0nearly 20 years and raising 11…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-171965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}