A supermom grizzly bear who gained popularity for allowing tourists to photograph her cubs along the roadside has given birth to her 17th kid.
She resides in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, and she’s still producing cubs at the age of 24.
In the wild, grizzlies live no more than 26 years, but this super mom was not deterred by that. She gave birth to a litter of four cubs.
Before even considering the grizzly’s age, four cubs in a single litter is quite unusual for a grizzly bear.
She is called Grizzly 399, and she became famous for traveling with her family along rural roadsides, which resulted in social media pages being established in her name.
It is said that the ‘super-mom’ learned to use busy roads to avoid males known to harm young bear cubs.
This technique clearly paid off for Grizzly 399, who has now been labeled the most successful documented grizzly mother in history.
These wonderful snaps were made by Kate and Adam Rice. According to Adam, they went: “We put our heart & soul into every shoot.”
“We weren’t sure if she’d have cubs again at her advanced age, much less four, which is extremely unusual.”
“We were shocked when we heard the news that she had four cubs, it seemed like her way of proving us wrong.”
Kate is a park photographer who has fallen in love with all of the bears.
“She frequently grazes in meadows along the road, making it a great chance for individuals to get a glimpse into the life of a wild bear.”
“Female bears in national parks typically reside near the road, relying on people for protection against male grizzlies that might harm their young.”
The first time Grizzly 399 made headlines was in 2011, when she and her five-year-old daughter began to raise cubs in the same region.
This is thought to be a unique behavior, as the daughter tamed one of 399’s cubs and raised it successfully on her own.
