(EDITOR'S NOTE:  Animals cannot write their own death notices, so consider this an obituary submitted on behalf of a mother, Grizzly Bear 399, who became famous in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for raising her three cubs along the roadside of Grand Teton National Park.  Read the story about the bear family, titled The Saga of 399, in Jackson Hole Magazine.  Also by clicking here read Wildlife Art Journal's story about the photographer, Cal McKitrick, who took the bear family's picture above). And for an update on DNA testing, click here .


Grizzly Bear 615 (2006-2009):  An Obituary

Grizzly Bear 615, a lifelong resident of Jackson Hole, was slain September 19, 2009 near Ditch Creek in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Countless human admirers in Wyoming and around the world are now mourning her death. DNA analysis is being conducted to confirm her family lineage, but the female bruin is believed to be the offspring of a famous matriarch.

615, the numeric identity given her by wildlife researchers, was born inside her natal den somewhere in the vicinity of northern Jackson Hole during the winter of 2006.  She was one of three triplets delivered solo by her healthy photogenic mother, Bear 399.

Under 399’s protective nurturing, 615 and siblings spent their juvenile years growing up in Grand Teton National Park and the adjacent national forest, learning how to survive in a landscape traversed by lots of people, some filled with hatred toward her species.

399 frequented national park roadsides because they gave her access to natural foods and afforded security from territorial male grizzlies that might do harm to her young.

The presence of 399’s clan created a sensation. Tourists traveled great distances (and spent a lot of money) to see the bears in their native habitat inside a national park. Since the 1970s, the Yellowstone ecosystem population of grizzlies, to which this family belonged, was classified as threatened and given protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

It is no exaggeration that tens of thousands of park visitors, especially residents of this valley, were captivated. The foursome was featured on the cover of Jackson Hole Magazine in 2008.

According to those who studied and celebrated her, including local wildlife photographers Thomas Mangelsen and Diana Stratton, 399 was an attentive mother skilled in avoiding people.

But for one incident in 2007, in which 399 mauled a Grand Teton Park hiker who accidentally startled the bear family as it was feeding on an elk, there was no indication the bruins harbored malice toward people.  Indeed, the mauled hiker pleaded with rangers not to destroy the bears.

615 followed in her mother’s paw prints after she was left to fend for herself in spring 2008.  She demonstrated prowess in hunting and scavenging sustenance the way she was taught; she minded her own business and kept her distance from humans.

On the day she died, at around 11 a.m., 615 was eating a moose carcass left behind by a hunter near Ditch Creek north of the tiny town of Kelly.

The man who illegally shot her was retrieving the meat of a deer that had been harvested earlier.  He told authorities he knew of the moose carcass, upon which 615 fed, yet apparently did not cut a wider path to avoid it.

615 was fired upon from a distance of nearly half a footfall field. Except for perking her ears and rising briefly on her hind legs to observe the human who invaded her comfort zone, she showed no signs that she intended to attack. Her killer admitted to investigators that she was 40 yards away when he pulled the trigger.

Carrying bear pepper spray, a scientifically proven non-lethal tool, is required of hunters in Grand Teton Park, but, inexplicably, the Bridger-Teton National Forest does not mandate it. The shooter cited for killing 615 toted a .270-caliber rifle and a .44-caliber handgun.

The first bullet to strike 615 penetrated her chest and exited her abdomen, essentially creating a gut shot that failed to kill her. Whirling in pain, 615 was shot a second time on the left side of her body.  She died on the spot.

The shooter told authorities 615 “had taken several steps toward him” yet she fell five feet from the place where she had been feeding.

It is span of separation between man and bear that one prominent grizzly researcher told this obituary writer falls far short of meeting the rationale for killing a grizzly in self defense based upon “allegedly being in imminent fear for one’s life.”

Bear 615 leaves behind a large group of people who became passionate advocates for her survival. She is not the only grizzly to inhabit Jackson Hole but she is the 20th grizzly known to have died already this year in the ecosystem from encounters with humans.

Some have said the shooter of 615 was justified no matter what circumstances led to her death.  "A dead bear is better than a dead human," they say.  However, the very same logic which gives the human, Stephen Westmoreland, the benefit of doubt and proclaims him innocent until proven guilty for illegally taking a grizzly, can also be applied to Bear 615. In numerous instances this summer, the same bear was observed in close proximity to people who were invading her space and she did not charge.

Indeed, there have been plenty of responsible hunters in the general vicinity of the moose carcass and who downed other animals, gutting and harvesting the meat, who had no negative encounter with 615, let alone seeing her.

If the implication is: That any person carrying a gun who encounters a grizzly that stands up, flares its ears and drops to all fours half of a football field away, interprets the behavior as aggressive and therefore feels justified in pulling the trigger, there are going to be a lot of dead and wounded grizzly bears. Fortunately, many hunters already have not invoked similar reasoning. But now the autumn hunting season in Grand Teton National Park is just beginning, a season that was grandfathered into existence in 1950 when the park was created and designed to help control large numbers of elk.

Bear 615's death is a shame not solely because she was popular with humans, but as a female approaching the prime of breeding age who learned and practiced behavior that generally kept her away from people, she is the kind of large meat-eating animal managers want to aggressively protect, be it a grizzly, lion, or tiger.

Just as her life made her a beloved poster child for being a “good grizzly,” now, in death, she is a powerful symbol as Exhibit A, showing why it is the chronic inability of Homo sapiens to exercise sound judgment and self control in their actions that raises questions about the future of this special bear population.