Grand Teton’s Grizzly 399 - the downside of fame

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Abinoone

Abinoone

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
Member's gallery
I’m sure many of you have heard of the famous Teton grizzly 399, thanks to the efforts of Tom Mangelsen, and a few others. There’s a wonderful new documentary out about this extraordinary bear, 399: Queen of the Tetons, which had its world premiere recently at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. To my knowledge, it’s not yet available online, but I’m sure that it will be soon. In any event, you may want to keep your eye out for it as I’m sure that it will be an extraordinary watching experience.

 
Member's gallery
Thanks for posting, I will be looking for that video.

I shot some video a few years ago with 399 and 610 together. 399 had her 4 cubs of the year and 610 had 2 yearling cubs. My favorite memories of watching 399!

What has really changed over the last two years to increase the pressure on 399 is the availability of cell service through the park.
 
Member's gallery
Abinoone said:
Agree that the crowds are almost out of control, but this film has an important message - how best to live with grizzlies and other predators.
Click to expand...

Not only the predators - but the other large critters that inhabit that eco-system.

Every year tourists demonstrate their cluelessness by getting too close to take selfies etc with bison or elk in Yellowstone and Tetons

The downside of the protection the apex predators receive is the increase in their ranges - many times outside the park's boundaries. That increases the opportunities for conflicts with humanity which can be tragic for both. Those events may lead to wildlife resource management steps. Mangelsen et al managed to stir up enough opposition to grizzly hunting in the region in recent years to stop it then. But at what future cost?

I think it was 399 that brought her cubs thru Jackson, Wyo for a nighttime stroll not many years ago. Thankfully that was without incident.

 
Member's gallery
Abinoone said:
I’m sure many of you have heard of the famous Teton grizzly 399, thanks to the efforts of Tom Mangelsen, and a few others. There’s a wonderful new documentary out about this extraordinary bear, 399: Queen of the Tetons, which had its world premiere recently at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. To my knowledge, it’s not yet available online,
Click to expand...

Abinoone said:
I’m sure many of you have heard of the famous Teton grizzly 399, thanks to the efforts of Tom Mangelsen, and a few others. There’s a wonderful new documentary out about this extraordinary bear, 399: Queen of the Tetons, which had its world premiere recently at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. To my knowledge, it’s not yet available online, but I’m sure that it will be soon. In any event, you may want to keep your eye out for it as I’m sure that it will be an extraordinary watching experience.

Click to expand...
Thanks for posting!
 
Member's gallery
I was in the Tetons/Yellowstone last August and went into Tom's gallery off the main square in Jackson. Unbelievable work if you ever get the chance to go in. it has three levels. I went downstairs to the bottom level and was looking around (yeah, i looked like I rolled in from the woods - cause I had). I walked around the corner and there was Tom sitting at a table signing his new book, which had just been deliveredthat very day. He spent a good 30 minutes chatting with me on a variety of subjects from cameras and lenses to telling me stories of some of his photos hanging on the wall. I told him my mom was a fan of his and had a couple of his photos hanging in her house and mentioned she had been having a rought time healthwise. He made a little video to share with her telling her he hopesshe gets to feeling better and can hopefully get back out to Jackson to come see him. I was a fan before, but i'm a super fan now! He's a genuinely nice gentelman and his love for 399 and other bears is very real. You hear the passion in his voice. Is there a downside to the attention he and others have brought 399 - maybe, but I think the awareness and fascination people of all ages have and the respect for the ecosystemMOST are learning far outweighs any downsides.

Oh, and yes, I did buy another photo to hang over my bed :) back home in Atlanta.

I appreciate the work Tom, @Steve , Moose, Steve Mattheis, and many others do to educate and bring us quality experiences through their photography..
IMG_0704 (1).jpeg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Member's gallery
sdloeffler said:
I was in the Tetons/Yellowstone last August and went into Tom's gallery off the main square in Jackson. Unbelievable work if you ever get the chance to go in. it has three levels. I went downstairs to the bottom level and was looking around (yeah, i looked like I rolled in from the woods - cause I had). I walked around the corner and there was Tom sitting at a table signing his new book, which had just been deliveredthat very day. He spent a good 30 minutes chatting with me on a variety of subjects from cameras and lenses to telling me stories of some of his photos hanging on the wall. I told him my mom was a fan of his and had a couple of his photos hanging in her house and mentioned she had been having a rought time healthwise. He made a little video to share with her telling her he hopesshe gets to feeling better and can hopefully get back out to Jackson to come see him. I was a fan before, but i'm a super fan now! He's a genuinely nice gentelman and his love for 399 and other bears is very real. You hear the passion in his voice. Is there a downside to the attention he and others have brought 399 - maybe, but I think the awareness and fascination people of all ages have and the respect for the ecosystemMOST are learning far outweighs any downsides.

Oh, and yes, I did buy another photo to hang over my bed :) back home in Atlanta.

I appreciate the work Tom, @Steve , Moose, Steve Mattheis, and many others do to educate and bring us quality experiences through their photography..
Click to expand...
Well said (written)!! You were really lucky to have had that experience, and your reminiscence only serves to confirm my own strong impression of Tom as a true gentlemen and photographer/naturalist. Not only are his images wonderful, he has done so many positive things to promote wildlife conservation of many species. Thank you for sharing your story.
 
Member's gallery
People are putting pressures on wildlife and mostly because they are not respectful. I attribute much of it to cell phone cameras and peoples' obsession with themselves (look at me in front of this bison!!!). True wildlife photographers use telephoto lenses and so don't want or need to get that close to get good photos and frankly, I don't want people in my shots, I often need to wait for them to move. Most of the time I'm using either my 800mm or 400mm lens so I don't want to be close.

My last time in the Tetons, in the fall of 2022, I went looking for 399 in the Pilgrim Creek area but with no luck and rangers will not help you in that endeavor. I knew it was a long shot but I still enjoyed driving around the back roads and a couple of hikes that I did in that area.
 
Member's gallery
A lot of pressure on that Sow. That will also pass on to her descendants. I think Tom also understands the issues and tries not to foment a bear jam every where she goes. Catch her and the cubs in the back areas and off the main roads. Though one shot at the end of her solo looked like she was crossing at Schwabacher Landing. Hardly off the beaten path but it looked like first light. Jane can keep the keel even by bringing the view of a true conservator to the approach.
 
Member's gallery
I was in Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Parks shooting wildlife twice in 2022, once in early January and again in the srping. I've seen 399 and her cubs at a distance. She's a rock star among the other grizzly rock stars. She did wander thru Jackson Hole town center that year with the two cubs. The park rangers might have had enough of her notoriety and relocated her. I don't know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top