In the aftermath of the unreported accident between Pilgrim Creek and Colter Bay a passer-by observed a grizzly moving its dead cub off the road into the trees, Teton park spokesman Andrew White said.

“When the rangers got there, they confirmed that had happened,” White said.

The cub’s carcass was found 40 yards off the road and recovered early Monday by park biologists. At the time, the mature grizzly was lingering along the highway and was hazed away, White said.

Because of the location and markings on the grizzly, White said, the park is “reasonably confident” the distressed sow involved was 399, a grizzly who has raised cubs in sight of roads near Moran for a decade. DNA tests will be conducted to confirm the dead cub was 399’s.

The grizzly cub’s lineage and faithful following made for an emotional bunch of wildlife watchers Monday morning in northern Grand Teton National Park.

“It sucks, but maybe it’s not all a waste,” a tearful Beth Bennett told a group of regular bear watchers from a pullout within view of the accident site.

“For all the people who are fighting against grizzlies being delisted, maybe a lot of people will hear this and pay attention,” she said. “I’m just trying to make sense of it. It’s crazy.”

Bennett, who lives next to the Jackson Lake Dam, said she’d watched 399 and her cub in her yard from her window a few times this spring.

The lone cub of the year, the 11th known offspring of grizzly 399, emerged with its mother May 10 near Pilgrim Creek. Previously, in 2012, a 399 cub was struck and killed by a vehicle in the park. Other cubs reared by the well-known 20-year-old sow are known to have died from poachers’ bullets and at the hands of wildlife managers who dispatched the bruins for killing livestock and displaying habituated behavior in developed areas.

Gardiner, Montana, photographer Deby Dixon remembered the cub known as Snowy as overly large for its age, healthy looking and playful. Dixon showed up before 6 a.m. and took a stroll down coned-off Pilgrim Creek Road, where she spotted and photographed 399 on her own. Encountering a member of the park's Wildlife Brigade, she learned of the accident and was turned around.

The road is now closed at least through today for public safety reasons, White said.

“We know that grizzly bear sows, after they lose a cub, they tend to be pretty unpredictable for a day or two,” he said. “They will continue to exhibit behavior like they’re taking care of a cub.”

The 37 animals that have been hit by vehicles in the park is a relatively high number for this point in the year, White said, but he added that it’s too early to say if it’s a trend tied to record visitation. Park officials are urging motorists traveling their packed roads to obey speed limits and give each other space so they can better see wildlife moving off the shoulders.

In addition to the two bears killed Sunday, nine deer, nine elk, two bison, two coyotes, a red fox and another black bear have been reported hit in 2016.

Typically more than 100 large animals are struck in the park annually, and last year throughout the county at least 377 animals are known to have collided with a motor vehicle.

In violation of Grand Teton regulations, neither bear-vehicle collision Sunday was reported.

“These are both hit-and-runs,” Jackson Hole wildlife videographer Jim Laybourn said Monday. “This shows callous disregard for our wildlife by our visitors. What does that mean?”

Note: This story was modified to clarify events leading up to photographer Deby Dixon's encounter with grizzly 399 Monday morning. — Eds.