The cub of one of the most popular grizzly bears in the United States was killed in a hit-and-run incident on Sunday evening at Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park.
Andrew White, a spokesman for the park, said a young bear was struck and killed by a car near Pilgrim Creek Road at about 10 p.m.
Park officials have yet to confirm the identity of the cub through DNA testing, but White said they are confident that the animal was Snowy, the blond-faced cub of the famous female bear known as Grizzly 399.
According to witnesses, Grizzly 399 even tried to save her injured cub but he eventually died. She later removed Snowy's body from the road.
Park officials said they are still working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, as well as the identity of the driver that hit the bear cub.
"[Grizzly] 399's cub, known as Snowy or Spirit by the bear watchers of Grand Teton, was adored for its antics and notably white face and will be sorely missed," the conservation group Wyoming Wildlife Advocates wrote on its Facebook page.
Snowy's death could not have come at a worse time for grizzly bears and their advocates in the western United States.
Animal rights activists have been trying to block plans by the federal government to remove grizzly bears from the list of animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.
While the issue is still being debated on, wildlife officials in Montana and Wyoming have already begun preparing for the possibility of allowing bears to be hunted again.
Wyoming Wildlife Advocates managing director Roger Hayden pointed out that Snowy's death shows just how vulnerable the bears in Greater Yellowstone parks are.
Last week, the group submitted a proposal to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and state wildlife managers in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to establish a no-hunting zone for grizzlies outside the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national park boundaries.
Hayden said bears just like Grizzly 399 tend to stay near roads in order to be safe, but sometimes this habit is what leads to their deaths.
"They are tolerant of people, yet people can cause their deaths — especially if the federal government allows states to hunt them," he said.
Hayden added that bears living in Grand Teton and Yellowstone that manage to wander beyond the boundaries of the parks will be the ones most likely targeted by hunters. This could lead to even more tragedies involving park bears unless the animals are protected.
