A grizzly bear supermom who made a name for herself by showing off her cubs to visitors on the side of the road has given birth to her 17th child.
Even at the great age of 24, the wild grizzly bear in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park is still bearing offspring.
Grizzlies in the wild don’t live much longer than 26 years, but that hasn’t prevented this extraordinary mom from giving birth to four pups.
Even without considering the grizzly’s age, four cubs in a single litter for a grizzly bear is unusual.
She was known as Grizzly 399 because she was frequently seen on the side of the road with her family, prompting the creation of social media profiles in her name.
It’s thought that the’super-mom’ learnt to dodge males who have been known to harm newborn bear pups by using busy roadways.
Grizzly 399 has officially become the most successful documented grizzly mother of all time as a result of this strategy.
Kate and Adam Rice took these wonderful photographs. Adam had this to say about them:
“At her senior age, we weren’t sure she’d produce cubs again, let alone four, which is quite uncommon.”
“We were taken aback when we learned she produced four cubs; it appeared to be her way of proving us wrong.”
Kate works as a photographer at the park and claims to be completely enamored with bears.
“She frequently grazes in meadows along the road, providing a fantastic chance for tourists to catch a glimpse of a wild bear’s existence.”
“It is considered that female bears in national parks raise their cubs along the roadway to shield them from threats such as male grizzlies that harm the youngsters.”
Grizzly 399 made her first appearance in the spotlight in 2011, when she and her five-year-old daughter started raising cubs in the same region.
This is thought to be a first because the daughter adopted one of 399’s pups and successfully nurtured it herself.