Grizzly 1063: Loss, Resilience, and Three New Cubs
- josephmarcphotography
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
There's a particular kind of quiet that settles over Grand Teton and the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in May — the crowds haven't arrived yet, the cottonwoods are just starting to leaf out, and the sagebrush flats still hold a little bite of winter in the mornings. It's one of my favorite times to be out with a camera, and this trip didn't disappoint. The first morning started with the drive from Cooke City into Lamar Valley, spending the early hours photographing wildlife in single-digit temperatures. Foxes worked the sagebrush, a few bison were already up and grazing, coyotes moved through the frost, and off in the distance, a large wolf pack played, just visible enough to watch through my camera lens.
After a few days spent traveling between Lamar Valley and eastern Yellowstone, photographing grizzly and black bears along the way, we headed down to the Tetons, where we encountered grizzly 1063 the day she emerged with three new cubs of the year. She appeared a few miles north of Pilgrim Creek right around sunset, her and the three coy bathed in warm golden-hour light as they made their way across a small open meadow and then disappeared into the forest.
1063's story is one of tragedy, resilience, and the hard realities of life in the wild. In spring 2025, 1063 — a first-time mother — was separated from her three cubs. Two were killed by a boar grizzly. She briefly reunited with the third and only surviving cub, but was soon separated again, and the two never found each other again. A year later, 1063 emerged from the den with three new cubs of the year — a reminder of how quickly life continues on in the wild, even after loss. As for the surviving cub from that litter, she's still alive and well, and has since been named Miracle by local photographers.
The cubs trailed behind her, still clumsy, still figuring out how their legs worked, while she cautiously led them through the Teton wilderness, pausing every so often to look back and make sure all three were keeping up.
I'll be back in Yellowstone and the Tetons again in late September, during the elk and moose rut, when the aspens and cottonwoods turn the landscape into a canvas of yellow, orange, and red, and the bears begin bulking up ahead of their winter slumber. I'm hoping to check back in on 1063 and her cubs if they're still in the area, and I'll have more field notes to share when I'm back.
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