Photographing grizzly bear 793 “Blondie” and her three new cubs in early June 2022.
April and May were all about spending as much time as possible photographing grizzly bear 399 and her four cubs before the family split ways. Since then it’s been relatively quiet in the grizzly watching world of Grand Teton National Park. I was thrilled to see 399’s daughter 610 emerge from hibernation with three new cubs, despite my only sighting of them being about a mile away. It was still great to see them through the binoculars, especially after both of her cubs were euthanized last summer.
I had also seen Blondies subadult daughter Fritter, foraging in her usual feeding grounds near Colter Bay. But, spring is the time when I like to photograph baby animals, whether that’s bears, moose, elk, foxes, whatever. So I was ecstatic when I discovered Blondie had emerged from several years of laying low with three new cubs. I spent the last two weeks checking up on the foursome. The park service did a great job of keeping people at least 100 yards away, usually a little more. Pushing your luck with a mama grizzly bear is generally not advisable anyway.
Rumors have been circulating recently that Blondie may have lost the cubs. I have not confirmed this myself and don’t want to speculate on what may have happened until I do. Nature is often brutal and grizzly bear cubs have about a 50% survival rate at best. Bears loose their cubs all the time due to a variety of causes but of course it feels worse when you have spent time admiring them.
Here are some of my personal favorite photos of the family from the last couple weeks. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to add some videos soon as well. If anyone is interested in prints, please contact me.
