photographers

SuperRare

The most famous grizzly bear in the world, Grizzly 399, was struck and killed by a car last night. 😢😭😢😭😢 I can’t really explain how rekt I feel by the loss of a wild animal, but she meant so much to so many of us. She birthed and raised about 25 cubs to adulthood - more than any other grizzly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

She was about 28 years old and with this last cub (who is a yearling and cannot survive now most likely without her) , she was the oldest known grizzly mom. There is a hole in my heart and I will treasure my images and videos of her forever. The one here with one young cub is the cub that she just just left. She also raised her cubs close to roads to protect them from male grizzlies known as boars. She knew cars and traffic like no other bear. I am thankful to have three of these images on the blockchain (two minted in on @superrare) and in @batsoupyum collection. My heart hurts 😢😭

As someone who has volunteered with endangered wildlife for over a decade, I totally understand how @brynnalise feels.

They are wild animals but they just mean so much more.

wildlife-nature-abstract photographer | conservation | capturing nature in single frame images 🏔️🌊🐺 |

https://warpcast.com/~/channel/brynnalise

Wildlife and landscape photographer from Hawaii. All photos copyrighted. More images on my website: www.jasonorourke.com

https://foundation.app/collection/honu

Thanks Jason - a small piece of my soul is missing this week 💔💔💔💔

I have certainly been there… maybe some day soon, you’ll see one of her cubs carrying on her legacy.

Do they track the cubs well enough as they grow to be able to identify her offspring?

She already has a couple well know offspring who have been carrying on her legacy. Grizzly 610 is one of them and I have been fortunate enough to spend a good amount of time with her too and her cubs over the years.

So, that’s how I try to work my way through Honey Girl, and Nihoa, and several other Hawaiian monk seal matriarchs we’ve lost… looking at their daughters and granddaughters extending her legacy.

It’s tough to lose one too soon, but they added so much to the next generations too.