489 Ted August 24, 2013 NPS photo
Adult Male ~ No Longer Seen
Year First Identified: 2001 as a Subadult Male
Year Last Observed: 2013
Offspring Of: Not known at this time
Genetics Study Samples Obtained: 489 Ted was successfully darted in 2005 and 2006 by former wildlife biologist Tamara Olson.
Identification:[]
2010 - 2018 Bears of Brooks River books & 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook: 489 is easily recognizable because of his large, distinctive scar on his left hip. This is a medium-large bear. His coat is light brown and often patchy when shedding, but is darker in September. He has a slightly drooping lower lip, dark eye rings, and dark claws. His ears are large, upright and triangle shaped. His nickname, Ted, is short for “triangle-eared.” In 2007, 489 Ted received a wound on his left hip during a brief altercation with 218 Ugly. While the wound 489 received looked vicious, it has since healed and scarred over, and is this bear’s most identifiable mark.
Distinctive Behaviors:[]
2010 Bears of Brooks River book: During the summers of 2008-2010, 489 was one of the very few bears that was regularly seen fishing in the river in mid-August.
2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook: Through 2008-2011 he was one of the very few bears regularly seen fishing the river in mid-August. During those periods he has repeatdly entered Brooks Camp, something most adult males appear to be uncomfortable doing. 489 Ted often begs fish from other bears, sometimes very vocally. He is one of the few adult males to show this behavior. Other bears will not give 489 fish, but this technique does put him in a good position to access discarded fish remains.
2014 - 2018 Bears of Brooks River books: Through 2008-2013 he was one of the very few bears regularly seen fishing the river in mid-August. During those periods he has repeatdly entered Brooks Camp, something most adult males appear to be uncomfortable doing. 489 Ted often begs fish from other bears, sometimes very vocally. He is one of the few adult males to show this behavior. Other bears will not give 489 fish, but this technique does put him in a good position to access discarded fish remains.
Life History:[]
2001: Subadult, 1st Year Identified & Classified[]
489 was classified as a subadult when first identified in 2001 and has grown into a mature adult since then.
2002: Subadult Male[]
September 2002:[]
2003: []
489 Ted was observed playing with 480 Otis.
2007: Adult Male[]
In 2007, 489 Ted received a wound on his left hip during a brief altercation with 218 Ugly . While the wound 489 Ted received looked vicious, it has since healed and scarred over, and is this bear’s most identifiable mark. This is yet another example of a bear’s remarkable ability to heal.
2007 Season:[]
July 2007:[]
2007.07.29: In a surprise attack 218 Ugly attacks 489 Ted and leaves a large flap of fur/skin/tissue hanging from 489 Ted. A park visitor captured footage of this encounter between 218 Ugly and 489 Ted: (08/06/2021 the link to this video is currently not working - see below link to another video)
At approximately 25 seconds into this video the July 29, 2007 encounter between 218 Ugly and 489 Ted can be seen. The two bears in the beginning of the video are 24 BB and 864 Norman on July 8, 2007. The bears at the end of the video are 856 and 402 with her cubs.
Park visitor Doug Foley photographed the attack on 489 Ted by 218 Ugly on 7/29/2007, photos #1 and #2.
August 2007:[]
2007.08.03: Katmai National Park Volunteer John Castor photographed 489 Ted on 8/3/2007. The photograph appears to be shortly after 489's injury at the hands of 218 Ugly. 2007.08.06: Park visitor angsmith3020 photographed 489 Ted on 8/6/2007, 8 days after he was attacked by 218 Ugly.
October 2007:[]
2008: Adult Male[]
September 2008:[]
2008.09.21: Ranger Jeanne's flickr album with photos of 856 (not 814 Lurch) and 489 Ted playing. Ranger Roy Wood's photograph of 856. 856 (left) and 489 Ted playing in this photograph by Ranger Roy Wood. (Note: bear on right is 489 Ted not 747 as ID'd on flickr photograph, see Ranger Jeanne's photographs in this album where she mis-identified 856 as 814 Lurch. 489 Ted's scar is visible in some of the photographs).
2009: Adult Male[]
August 2009:[]
2010: Adult Male[]
489 Ted was included in the 2010 Bears of Brooks River book on page 19. An October 2007 NPS photo of 489 Ted appears on the Adult Males page of the 2010 book, page 7.:
2010 Season:[]
2010 Season or Prior: Robert Finer captured this video of 747 playfighting with 489 Ted:
July 2010:[]
October 2010:[]
2011: Adult Male[]
July 2011:[]
Park visitor Terry Traveland (aka smuzta) captured this video of 489 Ted begging 747 for fish. 489 Ted defends his place in line by displacing another bear that wanted to also have a place in line for 747's scraps. Make sure to have your sound turned up to hear the vocalizations.:
2012: Adult Male[]
489 Ted was included in the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook.:
July 2012:[]
489 Ted did not show up until the end of July 2012.
2012.07.23: Team 399 captured video of 489 Ted begging from 747 in this 7/23/2012 video. The date was confirmed by Team 399 in the comments below the video.
September 2012:[]
2012.09.13: Victor Nemeth captured these photos (#1 & #2 ) of 489 Ted.
2013: Adult Male, Year Last Observed[]
2013 Season:[]
Cam viewer, Cloud captured these snapshots of 489 Ted during the 2013 season (#1 , #2 & #3) .:
July 2013:[]
2013.07.15: At approximately 15:08 on July 15, 2013 489 Ted was observed mating with a sow (identification never determined) from the Riffles live cam. Ranger Tammy Carmack observed the mating couple at Brooks Camp and confirmed 489 Ted's ID. Ranger Tammy said that she "didn't get a good look at her" (the sow)..."but got a hint of 410"...but not enough to say for sure since she (the sow) walked the other way."
2013.07.20: Theresa Bielawski shared a 7/20/2013 photo of 489 Ted on 6/7/2022.
Please request Theresa Bielawski's permission prior to using her photographs!
August 2013:[]
2013.08.04-08.05: Brooks Camp visitor Jane Hindman's 8/4-8/5/2013 photo album titled "Ted." There are eight photos of 489 Ted.
2013.08.27: Dave Clark captured this photo of 489 Ted. These photos may also be 489 Ted as those TrianglED shaped ears suggest (photo #1 above the falls , photo #2 in the far pool , photo #3 with 480 Otis in the "office" , photo #4 departing the far pool , photo #5 , photo #6 , photo #7 , photo #8 descending the falls , photo #9 with 480 Otis , photo #10 near fish ladder ) all of which were also taken on August 27, 2013.
September 2013:[]
2013.09.11: Ranger Mike commented on September 11, 2013 at 12:58 :
"Good afternoon everyone. There has been plenty of bear activity on the river during the past few days and it should only increase over the next two weeks. There are many new bears in the area, most of which I don't recognize. Some of these bears like the female with this yearling (?) cub in the photo below often do not approach the wildlife viewing platforms, so I have only gotten fleeting glimpses of her. 402 and her three spring cubs returned to the river this week as well.
Many of the “regular” bears that use the Brooks River are here right now like 94, 410, 435 Holly, 489 Ted, 480 Otis, 409 Beadnose, and 402. However, many of the dominant males that were here in July like 218 Ugly, 814 Lurch, and 856 have not been seen yet. We don't know why this is. Bears alter their patterns of movement quite often. In 2012, for example, 489 Ted wasn't seen along the Brooks River until late July. This year, however, he was here much earlier. For those other bears, perhaps fishing is still successful for them elsewhere right now."
2014: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
489 Ted was included in the 2014 Bears of Brooks River book on page 23.:
2014 Season:[]
489 Ted was not observed during the 2014 season.
2015: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
489 Ted was included in the 2015 Bears of Brooks River book on page 62.:
2015 Season:[]
489 Ted was not observed during the 2015 season.
July 2015:[]
2015.07.03: Where's Ted? KNP&P Terrane blog by Mark Kaufman.
2016: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
489 Ted was included in the 2016 Bears of Brooks River book on page 73.:
2016 Season:[]
489 Ted was not observed during the 2016 season.
2017: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
489 Ted was moved to the Bears No Longer Seen section of the 2017 Bears of Brooks River book on page 104.:
2018: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
489 Ted was included in the Bears No Longer Seen section of the 2018 Bears of Brooks River book on page 109.:
2019: Information Only, 489 Ted Last Observed during the 2013 Season[]
March 13, 2019 was Bears No Longer Seen Day on the bearcam comments. Cloud shared some fond memories of 489 Ted:
"I can't let Bears No Longer Seen Day go by without mentioning 489 Ted. Ted, short for triangle-eared, was one of the very first bears I could ID (Otis and Flo were others). He also had a scar on his left hip from a tangle he had in 2007, I believe, with 218 Ugly. Ted was about the only bear to hang around the Falls in August when all the others left and I quickly learned his routine. When he left the Falls, I knew I had exactly 15 minutes before he would show up on the lower river. When he left the lower river I'd have 15 minutes before he's show up at the Falls again. This went on all month. Ted was nothing, if not punctual. These pics are from 2013, the last year he was seen. I still miss Ted..."
How 489 Ted Got His Nickname:[]
489 Ted's nickname is short for “Triangle-EareD”.
Fun Facts About 489 Ted:[]
- In 2003, 489 Ted was observed playing with 480 Otis .
- In 2008, 489 Ted was observed playing with 814 Lurch .
- 489 Ted's scar from the 2007 wound he received from 218 Ugly remained a pretty consistent size from 2008 to 2013.
- In August 2013, Explore.org bearcam viewers would time 489 Ted to see how long it would take him to make the journey from the lower river to Brooks Falls and vice versa.
- 489 Ted was observed each and every year in both summer and fall from 2001 to 2013.
- Coincidentally 2013 the last year 489 Ted was observed was also the last year 218 Ugly was observed using the Brooks River.
- 489 Ted was not the bear in 814 Lurch's 2013 cache on the bear near the campground. 489 Ted was observed after 814 Lurch's 2013 cache was discovered.
- 489 Ted is part of the reason that gulls seen on the bearcams are called Alice. Comment from mod GABear:
"Back in about 2013, we had a bear called Ted (489). Ted stayed around during August when nearly every other bear left (as they did back then). He wandered up and down the river and seemed to always be accompanied by a gull companion, including when he got a fish and ate it on the rock at the falls. Someone thought of the old movie, Bob and Carol, and Ted and Alice. LOL And "Alice" the gull(s) acquired a name that stuck."
Known Courting & Mating:[]
2013:[]
Possibly 410: 489 Mated with a sow (possibly 410) on July 15, 2013 at approximately 15:08[]
489 Ted was observed mating on July 15, 2013 at approximately 15:08. The ID of the sow was not a firm ID, but Ranger Tammy Carmack got the hint that it may have been 410 that 489 Ted was mating with.
Known Relatives:[]
There are no known relatives of 489 Ted at this time.
There is speculation that 489 Ted is somehow related to 879. Ranger Mike Fitz answered this question on August 24, 2013 at 15:22.:
"There's a chance, but without DNA evidence, we wouldn't be able to confirm it It is rare for us to be able to consistently ID a bear from cub to subadult to adult. Even when we do, without DNA evidence we can't actually be sure of any bars siblings or parental lineage."
Genetics Study Samples Obtained:[]
2005: Successfully darted by Wildlife Biologist, Tamara Olson[]
489 Ted was successfully darted in 2005 by former KNP&P Wildlife Biologist, Tamara Olson.
2006: Successfully darted by Wildlife Biologist, Tamara Olson[]
489 Ted was successfully darted in 2006 by former KNP&P Wildlife Biologist, Tamara Olson.
A special thank you to KCanada for the NPS photos from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook.
A special thank you to Xander-Sage for creating the gif of the NPS photos from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook.