April 8, 2013, famous Grizzly sow 610 emerged from her den with three fat, happy and rambunctious cubs. Below are the spring photo sessions with the Grizzlies. To the delight of many grizzly 610 one of 399’s cubs from her 2006 crop of cubs, Grizzly 610 continues to be emulating her mother as she seems to be comfortable near park roads and relaxed with yet attentive with her cubs. She seems comfortable with people and vehicles as is 399 as she straddles her between wilderness and humanity. For those who see 610 and her brood the experience will be as special. And those who know her family history will likely be even more appreciative.
Grizzly Bear Sow 610 of Grand Teton National Park had been chasing these elk and has been eating their calves for days yet these elk do much more than tolerate her presence.
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK • Beloved and famous Grand Teton Grizzly Sow 399 and new set of triplet cubs made their debut yesterday to the delight of many. 399 gained her identity in 2001 when, as a five-year-old sow, she was caught in a research trap and fitted with a special collar that emitted signals. During the summer of 2004, 399 had a single cub, but the youngster disappeared, probably from a deadly encounter with an adult male grizzly which are known to kill cubs because sow grizzlies with cubs do not breed.
After losing her collar in May 2005 399 was recaptured and collared again. In late November of that year, she denned up in the Teton Wilderness north of Grand Teton National park for hibernation. The following spring, she emerged with three cubs in tow. Almost immediately, the four-hundred-pound grizzly sow and cubs drew large crowds. They became a sensation, unlike any Jackson Hole grizzly in modern memory.
We photographers and wildlife watchers of Jackson Hole and Yellowstone who have assumed the role of amateur cognitive ethologogists have concluded that 399’s predilection for frequenting areas rife with humans may be purposeful. Our ethological-projection is merely guesswork by amatures but we surmise that 399 has determined that as annoying as we humans are, we are not dangerous. Male grizzlies steer clear of human congestion therefore conjested national park habitat may be safer than truly wild grizzly habitat.
399 is remarkably attentive, passing on the instincts of survival taught by her mother and necessary to survive in a crowded human world. One of the cubs of her 2006 litter now has two cubs of her own this spring and is roaming another part of Grand Teton National Park where she is frequently seen.
All the cubs 399 delivered in 2006 reached adulthood, which is a statistical anomaly, which rarely happens in nature. Grizzly sow 399 my know what she is doing.
The Greater Yellowstone ecosystem is the only place in the lower 48 states where an endemic population of wild bison has survived since prehistoric times. Perhaps no other animal symbolizes the American West like the American bison. In prehistoric times millions of these quintessential creatures of the plains roamed the North America from northern Canada, south into Mexico and from Atlantic to the pacific. No one knows how many bison were in America before Columbus arrived but the guesstimate is about sixty million. They were the largest community of wild animals that the world has ever known. For a good part of the 1800s bison were considered to be in limitless supply.
After the Civil War the push to settle the west was on, new army posts were established, coinciding with the westward push of the railroads. The army and railroads contracted with local men to supply buffalo meat to feed the troops and construction laborers.
Bison were hunted nearly to extinction in the late 1800’s ---------------------------> More
By Daryl L. Hunter Montana, Gov. Brian Schweitzer's office is planning on changing how bison that wander out of Yellowstone are managed. Currently bison are rounded up and sent to slaughter but some are sent to a quarantined research facility in Corwin Springs MT.
State and federal officials say the hazing, capture and slaughter of bison is part of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) approved in 2000 intended to maintain a viable wild bison population in Yellowstone, The plan is designed to reduce the risk of transmitting brucellosis, a disease that can cause abortions, from bison to nearby livestock.
An agreement with Church Universal and Triumphant to open up thousands of acres that abuts Yellowstone for bison range was approved in 1999 but the deal hasn't been consummated, as it requires $13 million to be given to the church. Gov. Schweitzer's chief policy adviser Hal Harper said that this should become a priority.
The herd was estimated at-------------------------->More
The source of the mighty Snake River is in Yellowstone National Park, from there it flows past Flagg Ranch south through the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, and into postcard perfect Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Below Jackson Lake Dam, the Snake River meanders through Grand Teton National Park. Above the river to the west, the Grand Teton mountains rise suddenly, with no foothills to soften their dramatic rise to the sky. These are mountains the way we always expect mountains to look, The snowcapped, Grand Tetons are America's quintessential mountain range, rearing up with sawtooth like exaggeration crowned by the 13,770-foot Grand Teton.
The abundant wildlife and lush landscape of the upper Snake River Valley, which is Jackson Hole, leaves a lasting impression in the mind of any visitor to Grand Teton National Park. Approximately 50 miles of the 1056-mile long Snake River winds though Grand Teton National Park. Areas around Snake River are a great place to spot wildlife, such as Moose, Bison, Elk, Beavers, Otters, Bald Eagles, and Ospreys, and there is hardly a better way to experience Grand Teton Park than floating or standing knee deep in one of it's treasures. ............................More
