The Bears of Grand Teton: A Natural and Cultural History

The Bears of Grand Teton is the first comprehensive history of bears, black and grizzly, and their interactions with people in Grand Teton National Park and the surrounding area of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is also a personal account by Sue Consolo-Murphy, who spent thirty years as a wildlife manager for the National Park Service.

Consolo-Murphy focuses on the natural, cultural, and administrative histories of bears in and around Grand Teton National Park and the nearby John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, paying particular attention to bears’ interactions with livestock. Entertaining and educational, The Bears of Grand Teton also explores the phenomenon of social media celebrity bears--such as Grizzly 399, the world’s most famous bear--and the challenges of listing and removing grizzly bears from Endangered Species Act protection.

Sue Consolo-Murphy is retired from Grand Teton National Park and John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, where she worked as chief of science and resource management from 2003 to 2019, after decades with the National Park Service at various locations. She was the 2013 recipient of the National Park Service Director’s Award for Excellence in Natural Resource Management and was a 2008 honoree of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee’s award for significant contributions to grizzly bear recovery.