An Uncertain Future for the Grand Teton's Grizzlies
Grizzly 399 and one of her four spring 2020 cubs. Because of human interference, this “Queen of the Tetons” is teaching her cubs skills that will lead to euthanasia. Image: ©Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
By Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
Author, wildlife photographer, Team member, Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
With winter quickly approaching in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the beloved grizzly bears of Jackson Hole are at risk. And as this past year has reminded us again, when the bears get in trouble, they lose.
Grizzlies are currently preparing for winter hibernation. At this time of year, bears go into a phase called: “hyperphagia," which is defined by an increase in appetite and feeding driven by the biological need to maximize fat reserves - to "fatten-up."
Bad Human Behavior Endangers Bears and Humans
✔︎ Trip Tips
Where: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
When: High season: July - Sept. Off Peak Late May-June and September after Labor Day
How: Self drive or take a tour. Ask Us
What: Bears, moose, mountains and more
In their search for extra food, the bears cover a lot of ground daily, bringing them into frequent contact with us humans. Unfortunately, that bear/human contact, especially when human food rewards or busy roads are involved, typically ends badly for the bears. Sadly, that bad ending includes Jackson Hole's celebrity grizzly bears: grizzly 399 with her four cubs, dubbed, The Queen of the Tetons, and grizzly 863, better known as Felicia, and her two cubs.
The bears are magnets for tourists worldwide, but their charisma puts them squarely between a rock and a hard place with less area to roam without running into houses or dangerous roads and easy access to human trash.
A bears food drive can make them dangerous. Hyperphagia, fattening up for hibernation, makes them more so. Video thanks to 7KBZK Bozeman, Montana.
Accessible Dumpsters and Feeding Bears Leads to Euthanasia
The Death of 399: Jorn is donating all proceeds of mugs, hoodies, t-shirts, and ornaments with his iconic image of 399 to grizzly conservation organizations: Vital Ground and JH Bear Solutions. Purchase here
We cannot blame the bears when they find themselves attracted to an open dumpster or trash can in the middle of their territories - who does not enjoy a free lunch? But yet, we do blame them. To make matters worse, a local Jackson Hole resident has been actively feeding the bears for years, steadily habituating some of the grizzlies – including 399 and her four cubs. In addition, this woman (and others?) is teaching generations of grizzly bears to look for food in local homes.
Again, all of this thoughtless, dangerous human behavior has led to the euthanasia of several of Jackson Hole's bears this year; most memorably, the recent euthanasia of two of 399's daughter's (grizzly 610) cubs by the authorities.
Both Felicia and grizzly 399 are presently monitored and hazed in an attempt to correct their behavior back into their natural avoidance of man-made things. The future for the beloved grizzlies is highly uncertain.
As you can read in my previous article, published in the spring of 2021, Felicia and her two cubs have had a very rough summer and fall. Bear managers constantly hazed the grizzlies throughout the season to keep them away from the busy Togwotee Pass, entering Jackson Hole from Dubois.
An Interview with Scott Kosiba, of The Friends of Bridger-Teton
We reached out to Scott Kosiba, the Execute Director of the non-profit Friends of Bridger-Teton, for an insight into Felicia's situation and to learn about the plans for her and other grizzlies' future. Image: Thanks to the Friends of the Bridger-Teton.
How Has Felicia Been Doing Since the Hazing Campaign Ended?
From Scott: "The good news is that all wildlife managers are viewing the hazing campaign, ... intended to keep her away from the busy roads, as a success. "says Scott, "She will once or twice pop out near the roadside nowadays but she's not frequenting the roads as she was prior to hazing. She [Felicia] has changed her behavior so that she currently no longer requires constant monitoring, like earlier this spring and summer.
Everyone involved feared that, once the intense hazing campaign ended, she would revert back to hanging out near the roadside again and create bear jams along the road, but from what I understand, there were only a few times wildlife managers had to use flashbangs to get her off the road. And, direct influence of this on Felicia and her cubs was minimal."
Felicia (grizzly 863) and her cubs were hazed this spring and summer in an effort to keep her, her cubs, and the humans who do not follow common sense rules, safe. Image: ©Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
Friends of the Bridger-Teton have been working hard this year to keep Felicia and visitors safe.
From Scott: "We are the official non-profit program for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. As such, we financially support volunteers who help out with Forest Service tasks. This includes our 'Wildlife Ambassador' program. We brought on an additional wildlife ambassador this year to support the efforts of Felicia's (863) monitoring. Eric, one of the wildlife ambassadors, has recently agreed to stay on through the start of 2022. Since some bears, like grizzly 399 this past winter, don't go into their den until early January, he will continue to monitor the bears. Since Felicia has required less monitoring recently, Eric is currently focused on monitoring grizzly 399 and her cubs," says Scott.
Retired San Diego deputy sheriff, Eric Peterson, has been devoted to monitoring Felicia and cubs throughout this season. Eric agreed to stay on until Felicia and her two cubs go into hibernation. Eric discovered the Teton wilderness while photographing wildlife in 2020. Image Thanks to Friends of the Tetons.
Is There a Concrete Plan Ready for Spring 2022 When Felicia Reappears After Hibernation?
From Scott: "We'll be better prepared next season for sure, compared to what happened this past spring. A lot of community and national momentum is present to do something. We all have the common goal to see these bears live; minimize the potential for them to become habituated, and we want to eliminate the possibility of negative human-bear interactions, especially on the road," says Scott.
"We are working now with local and county government entities and non-profit entities to expand our Wildlife Ambassador program dramatically. We are hoping for next season to have additional wildlife ambassadors available in Jackson Hole. We will be providing them with more training and better communication with Grand Teton National Park staff. We are also hoping to hire staff to support the wildlife ambassadors."
Monitoring Human-Adapted Wild Bears Requires Manpower and Money
"A lot of people have asked us to create a copy of the National Park Wildlife Brigade. From a logistical and cost standpoint, it is, in my opinion, unattainable and unsustainable to do. To start, the Forest Service has much fewer resources than the National Park Foundation, which financially supports the National Park Wildlife Brigade. And importantly, the National Park also does not have the overlapping jurisdictions of multiple government agencies that, for example, managing Felicia involves."
Can You Tell Us About Grizzly 399’s Recent Adventures into Private Property Outside the Park Borders?
Another Jackson Hole celebrity bear has been making negative headlines these past months. Grizzly 399 and her four cubs have been spending most of their time outside of Grand Teton National Park borders, causing all kinds of headaches for bear managers.
A Solitude Woman Feeds Bears on Her Porch
As opposed to Felicia, who spends her time in the National Forest, far away from human settlements, the now 25-year old grizzly 399, has frequently found food rewards when visiting human subdivisions outside the National Park. And, as evidence has proven, a Jackson Hole resident has even been feeding them repeatedly in her backyard!
From Mike Boyce : "We had repeated conflicts over a three- or four-day period, way down south," Game and Fish biologist Mike Boyce told the Jackson Hole News & Guide, "property damage, livestock feed, and apiary damage."
Humans Behavior Is Changing Grizzly Behavior
For a year and a half (average) moms teach their cubs where to find food. If they learn that your garbage can, or cooler - or worse - your HAND - is a good food source, that cub will be back as a hungry adult. Image: Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
It wasn't until 2020 that grizzly 399 began to spend extended amounts of time outside National Park borders, although she had previously been known to venture south of the park. Perhaps this change came from her effort to find sufficient food for her four cubs born in spring 2020.
In 2020 and again this year, Felicia (399) and her four cubs spent most of the summer and fall going into human settlements south of the park. Easy access to food rewards on private property - including the molasses enriched grains ostensively left out for moose and beekeeper's honey - keeps the bears returning and also keeps them hanging around.
An aerial photo of a home in the Solitude subdivision south of Moose taken in February 2018 by a Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife biologist during an annual winter classification found 10 moose clustered around the house. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE / COURTESY PHOTO via JH News and Guide.com
Grains Left Out For Moose Feeding??
"Grains left out for moose feeding" is at least what the resident of the Solitude subdivision, located south of the park, claims in her defense. However, the woman was caught with 399 and her four cubs on her porch eating the grains she left out.
Investigators from U.S. Fish & Wildlife and Wyoming Game and Fish have photos and videos and have received many neighbor concerns about the resident's feeding grizzlies on her property, most notably 399 and her four cubs. But, so far, all efforts to stop this woman from feeding wild grizzly bears have been unsuccessful.
The Solitude HOA (Solitude County Home Owners Association) and Teton County do not allow wildlife feeding. However, on the odd occasion that the authorities successfully convinced the resident to stop putting food out, she has resumed feeding after authorities left and seemingly does so till this day.
The State of Wyoming and Wildlife Feeding
The world-famous grizzly 399 has already lost 2 grandson’s due to habituation by humans. Perhaps a law criminalizing wildlife feeding would stop more from being euthanized. Image: ©Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
The bigger problem is that the state of Wyoming does not criminalize the feeding of wildlife. In a state with parks such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone, making wildlife feeding illegal sounds like a no-brainer. Feeding wildlife on your property, especially potentially dangerous critters like bears, not only dooms the food-habituated animals but also endangers yourself, your family, your neighbors, and others' property where the bears will go looking for food.
Democrat lawmakers in Wyoming have attempted to pass a state law to ban such wildlife feeding, but Republican lawmakers consistently have blocked the efforts. They claim that a law making wildlife feeding illegal would infringe on people's private property rights. Go figure. The bears, such as grizzly 610's cubs who were both recently euthanized, pay the price. The result: 399 and cubs continue to feed at the woman's property, becoming more food habituated daily.
A New Generation of Human Habituated Bears is Headed for Trouble
24-year old grizzly 399 stunned the world by introducing four adorable cubs in spring 2020, today they are 200lbs/ 91Kg. subadults. They have been seen being fed by at least one woman. Habituation is a death sentence for grizzly bears. Image ©Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven
It's very concerning that grizzly 399 is expected to "kick out" her four cubs in the spring of 2022. All four cubs are now conditioned by their mom (and the human property owners' behavior) to head south of the park onto private property for easy food access. "She's teaching four 200-pound bears that this is how to get food," Dan Thompson, head of the Wyoming Game and Fish's large carnivore division, told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. We have seen this before with 610's cubs.
"What we're doing is ... intensively monitoring her," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grizzly Recovery Coordinator Hilary Cooley, told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. ... she said. "It's like a 24/7 effort. Teton county is kind of behind the times in terms of trash and storage and conflict prevention: beehives, livestock feed, open dumpsters. Almost everywhere you look, there's something."
To improve monitoring the whereabouts of grizzly 399 and her cubs, an interagency team has recently successfully radio-collared two of the four cubs. Wildlife managers are also hazing grizzly 399 and her cubs when needed to mitigate further human-bear conflict.
Residents Petition to Protect the Bears By Securing Their Own Trash - Will the Petition Succeed?
There is currently a petition to require all trash cans in Teton County to be bear-proof. As of the time of this writing, the petition has over 65,000 signatures. Town and County officials are researching the issue with the hope of deciding by February 2022, shortly before the bears reappear after hibernation. Per Scott, Friends of Bridger-Teton has been working with other non-profits to push for secure trash dumpsters and educating people. Add your signature
Conclusion: When Humans are Irresponsible Bears Die
As Jackson Hole's tourism and population keep growing, human-bear interactions and issues are on the rise. In 2021 alone, this resulted in the intense hazing of Felicia and her two newborn cubs, and now the constant monitoring of Jackson Hole's most famous bear family of 399 and her four cubs, an unnecessary human-caused waste of resources.
But, some celebrity bears have recently drawn the shortest end of the stick. This past summer, two of 399's grandchildren – both children of her celebrity daughter, grizzly 610 – were euthanized for accessing food rewards in neighborhoods just outside of National Park borders. "That's the outcome we want to avoid," says Scott, "we need to avoid bears from becoming roadside or food habituated again."
Jackson Hole and the state of Wyoming need to criminalize wildlife feeding on private property, especially with so many people living just outside of Grand Teton's borders. Additionally, Jackson Hole needs to enforce bear-proof trash cans and dumpsters. As Felicia's and 399's families hopefully safely make it into their den, one big question lingers on the minds of all who love the grizzlies: what is next for them once they wake up in 2022, and how do we keep them safe? It's up to all of us. What do you think?
Killing the Golden Goose... er… Bear
A solution to lining the road to watch bears must be found for everyone’s safety, including the bears, however, the each of the worldwide fans of grizzly 399 and Felicia have the potential to bring economic benefit to the local community and for support of protected habitat. Image: Thanks to JHnewsandguide.com
A note from the editor: Bad behavior by local humans is dangerous and costs the community money. Money spent protecting humans from bear behavior which humans incited in the first place, is a waste of tax dollars that could be used for education or road improvement or enhancements for the community.
And human-caused bear euthanasia directly negatively impacts local business. So-called "celebrity bears" bring in dollar-spending tourists from all over the world. Tourists sleep in the local hotels, eat in the local café's, hire local guides, buy locally sold tee-shirts and souvenirs supporting the businesses of local residents. Allowing behavior that directly and negatively impacts yourself, family and community sounds like a definition of insanity. And that is a human, not a bear or political party problem. Roberta
How do you feel? Share your thoughts below
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