Yellowstone King- Grizzly 791

News Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=LKq6Yx8Mu8M

YELLOWSTONE KING- GRIZZLY 791. Available as Lot #272 in the "the Russell" Saturday Night Auction

This painting is inspired from a true story that unfolded on a fateful September morning in Yellowstone National Park. Grizzly 791, a tagged bear that is studied for research purposes and one of the largest Grizzlies in the region, chased a limping 6 x 6 Bull Elk into the Yellowstone River. What ensued was an epic battle where the Grizzly 791 essentially forced the bull into deeper water and took advantage of his power and killer instinct. A few minutes into this battle the Grizzly wore down the Elk by spinning it round and round in the water with his paws controlling the bulls body and antlers. With the bull completely exhausted, Grizzly 791 simply held the bulls head underwater long enough for the battle to end. This massive grizzly then pulled the lifeless elks body to the shore and laid down for a few hours after the exhausting battle. It was clearly obvious this bear had used this technique before.

Grizzly 791 then buried his prize along Yellowstone River bank feasting on it over the next 6 days while thousands of park visitors and photographers witnessed the scene from the comfort of the other side of the river. Despite the raw nature of this story, I just felt that it was a story the that had to be told on canvas.

Cliff Rossberg