05/17/2023
She’s Back!!!! With her new Baby Cub!!!!
Mother Grizzly 399 has finally emerged from her den with a new baby cub. And boy, are we all relieved! She is now 27 years old and has had 18 cubs, probably a grizzly bear record. She has kept her cubs safe from large male bears by staying close to people on park roads. As Tim says, “She’s a smart old girl!” It will be interesting if she stays in Grand Teton National Park this year or strolls about Jackson Hole. Perhaps she might wander over to Dubois, Wyoming, to see her new sculpture?
Sandy Scott nears completion of sculpture of Grizzly 399 and four cubs
All through the long and cold winter, famed wildlife sculptor Sandy Scott has been creating an amazing bronze sculpture of 399. We believe it will be finished by Sandy and then installed by our good friends at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wyoming, by about July 1. Here are a couple of shots of Sandy sculpting away on the clay mold. Impressive!
Four Wildlife Education and Safety Grants have been awarded now!
1. We are nearly finished with the Greater Yellowstone Wildlife Safety Guide, an e-book written by famed wildlife author Todd Wilkinson. It will be a homerun. We are going to make it available as a free downloadable pdf on our website (grizzly399.org) and our newsletters, on the websites and newsletters of other organizations, and hope to distribute it to thousands of lodging facilities for distribution to their clients. The Guide not only provides valuable safety information for viewing wildlife, but also describes where some of these large animals may be viewed. Remember, we have over 4 million people a year visit Yellowstone and over 3 million visit Grand Teton.
We want to try to prevent visitors and residents from being mauled by a bear, gored by a bison, trampled by a moose, or speared by an elk. Also, by now you have heard of the dreadful toll that the severe winter took on many animals. With climate change and continued human expansion into their environment, we may not be that far away from losing these wonderful animals. Let’s work to find ways that humans and our wildlife friends can flourish and live together.
2. We are pleased to announce that working with the Student Conservation Association and Teton Science School, we have agreed to sponsor 12 students for an intensive and fun week in March, 2024 of wildlife education in Grand Teton National Park under the tutelage of Teton Science.
3. Working with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, we have made a grant for them to build 15 wildlife ramps on the Snake River d**e in Teton County so that elk, deer, and other creatures can safely access the river without injury from the danger of trying to cross large, jagged boulders comprising the d**e.
4. We have made a grant to the founders of Grizzly Times to compile all available scientific research and create a technical document that will interpret the information and explain how and why our infrastructure constructions tend to be bad for grizzly bears and what can be done to lessen the impact. This document will be distributed to influential journalists, science societies, wildlife supportive groups, elected officials, and the general public.
We are hoping to make many more grants this year. Click on the following button to see our Criteria.
May we all have a safe 2023 enjoying our wildlife friends in peaceful harmony.
Check our website at https://grizzly399.org/
The Deidre Bainbridge Wildlife Fund is a 501(c)(3) Wyoming Organization.
Tim Tennyson, President
Terri Thomas, Secretary
Ray Thomas, Treasurer
