Grizzly bear #399 and her family are the most famous grizzly bears in the world, and their story provides a snapshot of our changing relationship with wildlife. It brings to focus the work needed to conserve grizzly bears, other species, and ecological processes for the benefit of people and all other life. Over the last few decades, #399 and her offspring have lived in and around Grand Teton National Park. In 2020 this 24-year-old mom had four cubs. She has become an easily recognizable symbol for conservation issues in the GYE. This is why she and her family have come to personalize wildlife and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to millions of people worldwide. This fosters concern for this families welfare, and sparks a deep interest, as we watch the effects of social and environmental change unfolding all around them. People interact with these bears by viewing them from the safety of their vehicles and through social media. Grizzly #399 has come to exemplify a decades-long battle to protect grizzly bears throughout the GYE, which is itself really a metaphor, a symbolic story, about trying to conserve the GYE itself. The stories that we tell about #399 reflect who we are as humans, how we view wildlife, and what we are doing in nature.

We have created a powerful narrative about grizzly #399 and her family over the years. This narrative came about as photographers and journalists shared their observations, images, and story for the public, such as the beautifully documented photographs of Tom Mangelsen's book Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek: An Intimate Portrait of 399 (The Most Famous Bear of Greater Yellowstone).2 Her playful cubs engage people. What does this story really mean to us? Is there a deeper meaning than just seeing a bear? In 2015, a headline claimed, “399 is the poster bear for all the bruin clan.” The author, Todd Wilkinson, said, “I think about the gift she represents in waking up millions of people to the miracle that Greater Yellowstone's grizzly population was rescued from the brink of annihilation.