AILSA CHANG, HOST:
One of the most beloved residents of the ecosystem around Yellowstone National Park has died. She was an often-photographed grizzly bear, known as 399. That's a number that wildlife biologists assigned her. Three-ninety-nine was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the area, and she died last week after being struck by a car. Wyoming Public Radio's Hanna Merzbach spoke to people mourning the loss.
TOM MANGELSEN: My name is Tom Mangelsen. Year after year, for 18 years, I would see her and her offspring.
HANNA MERZBACH, BYLINE: Mangelsen is a wildlife photographer that lives near Grand Teton National Park. People around the world got to know 399 through his photos.
MANGELSEN: I don't have kids, but I have a couple of special dogs and have had animals all my life, but I've never lost an animal that affected me as much as 399 getting killed.
MERZBACH: Three-ninety-nine was known as a roadside bear. Grizzlies that survived to age 28, like she did, generally avoid people. But there's a hypothesis that some bears frequent roadsides to keep their cubs safe from aggressive males. This may cause them to fear cars less. Sam Nierman works in conservation and education in Jackson, Wyoming.
SAM NIERMAN: I mean, I think we are fully the guilty party here. We more or less nurtured this animal to, you know, feel OK being a roadside bear. I say this with tremendous grief. This is, like, the logical death - right? - a roadside bear being hit by a car.
JOANNA AHLUM: My name is Joanna Ahlum, and I work at Teton Science Schools. I have a very vivid picture of my 3-year-old hanging out of the car window, calling out, I see you 399. I shared the news with them last evening. My 8-year-old just dropped to the floor, kind of crumpled and started crying. I think they felt very sad - that it had been human-caused was really hard for them to accept.
RENEE SEIDLER: I'm Renee Seidler, the executive director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation. Grizzly 399 made it really clear that there are bears in town that are searching for garbage, barbecues, birdseed, livestock grain.
MERZBACH: Bears that learn they can find food like that in towns often frighten or get into conflict with humans, and that can lead to them being killed.
SEIDLER: She was a catalyst change for us to get our ducks in a row on regulations and code and to work towards being able to enforce those things so that we really are living not adjacent to the wildlife, not in conflict with the wildlife, but living with the wildlife, with the wild animals being safe and us being safe.
MERZBACH: Suzanne Turnbull lives on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and takes care of bison sent there from Yellowstone National Park.
SUZANNE TURNBULL: You know, as a Native American person, we feel, we believe that we're all related. So you know, I see her as a mother like I'm a mother, you know? So they're not just an animal, you know? They're a spiritual being as well. I'm just really sad that that's the way it ended, but, you know, humans and wildlife - they don't always find a perfect balance of existence. She represented everything that is wild and free.
MERZBACH: For NPR News, I'm Hanna Merzbach in Jackson, Wyoming.
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