Hi everyone it's Chris here it's October 23rd 2024 and about 20 minutes ago I heard

some very sad news and I wanted to share it because it really hits home on so many levels. Bear 399 was killed last night by a vehicle near Jackson Hall, Wyoming.

Very close to Grand Teton National Park, a place she called home where she was known as the Queen.

Bear 399 was the most incredible Grizzly Bear, the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the whole greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

She was 28. And it wasn't just her old age, a really old bear in the wild could reach 35, but it was the fact

that she was still having cubs as a great grandma.

Over her lifetime, she had 18 cubs and many of them went on to have families of their own.

This is what we know so far from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

She was identified through ear tags and a microchip and she did

have a yearling cub with her, that's a cub that's about a year and a half old.

The car hasn't been found but the search is on. The driver of the vehicle is

thankfully okay. She was struck on a highway in the Snake River Canyon.

Her name, 399, came from the tag number researchers gave to her when she was first captured.

Recently, we've told so many stories of national parks and roads and how they affect wildlife of all kinds and it's

no different for the mightiest of them all, even grisly bears.

Just over a week ago I was in Yellowstone National Park with my producer Lucy

Suu Kyick we drove through 399's backyard and we really thought of her it was

amazing to be there knowing that she was around.

We even have an interview lined up with my friend the legendary photographer Tom Mangelson

who's tracked and photographed 399's life for nearly 20 years. I know he and so many others will be devastated by this news.

We'll be talking to him later in the season about his special relationship with her.

Now there's even more reason to have that conversation.

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