Meet 'The Boss,' Canada's Legendary 700-Pound, 28-Year-Old Grizzly Who Beat A Train

Wyoming had Grizzly 399. Canada has The Boss, a huge male grizzly that’s the country’s most beloved bear.

He’s thought to be 27 to 28 years old and weighs roughly 700 pounds.

“He’s a big boy. He’s a big teddy bear type of thing,” Canadian wildlife photographer Jason Leo Bantle told Cowboy State Daily.

But make no mistake, The Boss, officially Grizzly 122, is a badass.

He survived being hit by a train and fathered half the cubs in Banff National Park in Alberta.

He also bears scars, including a distinctive one on the left side of his face, from vicious fights with his main rival, Grizzly 136.

One side of Grizzly 136’s mouth is ripped into what looks like a permanent snarl, which earned him the name Split Lip. He suffered the wound in a fight with The Boss.

‘Looking For Girlfriends’

Grizzly 399 lived in and Near Grand Teton National Park until she was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2024, at age 28.  

She was perhaps the most famous bear that ever lived in the wild. 

She raised numerous cubs — most notably, a set of quadruplets born in 2020. A documentary film titled “Queen of the Tetons” depicted that period of her life, as she raised the quads. 

She was the subject of countless photographs, many of them taken by famed Wyoming wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen.  

The Boss hasn’t achieved that level of fame. But photos and stories of him remain popular, particularly the story of him getting hit by a train and surviving. He’s much-beloved in Canada. And, as Bantle explained, he’s also built an international following.

Bantle started watching and photographing The Boss about a decade ago, and spends as much time as he can in Banff.

He has a master’s degree in biology and lives near the park, running his business, All in the Wild Photography.

Until Split Lip started pushing the envelope recently, The Boss was the undisputed king of Banff.

That left The Boss with his choice of the ladies.

“This guy just walks up and down the valley, looking for girlfriends,” Bantle said.

There are about 65 grizzlies in the park, and The Boss is thought to have fathered roughly half the cubs there.

For the most part, The Boss and Split Lip have stayed in their respective territories.

They’ve had a few clashes. Most notably, a real knock-down, drag-out in the summer of 2024. That’s when Split Lip’s lip was split.

Afterward, The Boss languished in a field, and there was concern that he might have been seriously, or even mortally wounded.

After about 24 hours, he laid those fears to rest by getting up and walking away.

“It was like nothing had happened, he was The Boss again,” Bantle said.

Bantle said that he spotted Split Lip, who is in his early 20s, showing up in more spots inside The Boss’ territory.

The Boss might be starting to “relinquish the throne,” he said.

Train Trouble, The Boss Isn’t A Drunkard

A rail line runs through Banff, and there is concern over bears being hit by trains.

“We lost five grizzlies this year,” Bantle said.

“Three females and a male were hit by trains, and one was hit by a vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway,” he added.

According to reports, The Boss is thought to have been struck by a train, but escaped serious injury, in the mid-2010s.

He had another close call with a train in 2024.

Like many Banff bears, The Boss likes to go up to the train tracks to feast on grain spilled from rail cars.

That situation mirrors concerns along a rail line running through Montana, near Glacier National Park.

Numerous grizzlies have also been struck by trains while eating spilled grain there. In some cases, the grain ferments after getting wet from rain and snow.

So, grizzlies eat the fermented grain, get drunk and stumble in front of trains.

Banff grizzlies sometimes get drunk on fermented grain. But apparently, The Boss has avoided that indignity, Bantle said.

“There are no reports of him getting drunk off the fermented grain, but we know of other bears that have lost their lives from getting drunk on the fermented grain and being struck by trains,” he said.

A Home Visit

The Boss usually stays inside of the park. But he ended up in Bantle’s yard one day in the fall of 2024.

He was gorging on crabapples from a neighbor’s tree.

The neighbor had planted the tree four years earlier with her late husband, Bantle said.

Even so, she made the selfless decision to cut it down and clear the yard of all the fallen crabapples, to avoid tempting The Boss or any other Banff bears to leave the safety of the park, he said.

Bantle wonders if The Boss had another reason for showing up at his place.

“I’m always going into the park to see if he’s OK. I guess he was coming to see if I’m OK too,” he said.

A Hugely Popular Bear

Just as Grizzly 399 was known across Wyoming and the U.S., The Boss is a household name in Canada, Bantle said.

“People know about The Boss from the east coast to the west coast of this country,” he said.

Grizzly 399 had a world-wide fan base, and so does The Boss.

Among international visitors to Banff, people from three places in particular are huge fans of The Boss: The United Kingdom, France and Australia, Bantle said.

Most people who visit the park are respectful of the wildlife. As in Yellowstone National Park, visitors are admonished to stay at least 100 yards from bears.

Of course, there are a few who push the boundaries, and try to get close enough for photos with cell phones, instead of cameras with telephoto lenses, he said.

“He has put bluff charges on some humans,” Bantle said.

For the most part, The Boss is mellow, so long as people respect his space, he said.

He added that he admires The Boss and the park’s other grizzlies for having adapted so well in a world affected by humans.

Still In Good Shape

The Boss is usually one of the last grizzlies to “go to bed” for winter hibernation in Banff, Bantle said.

He likes to stay out for a few more snacks and meals. Sometimes obtained in a brutal manner.

One year, “he dug a black bear out of its den and had a snack just before going into hibernation,” Bantle said.

If The Boss is 28, he’s getting up there in grizzly years. Grizzlies rarely live past 30 in the wild.

The Boss’s teeth are starting to look worn. And worn teeth, and the inability to eat, is frequently deadly for aged grizzlies.

Even so, The Boss and Split Lip both looked vibrantly healthy when they went into hibernation this year, so there’s every reason to think they will reemerge in the spring, Bantle said.

Grizzly 399 died after being struck by a vehicle south of Jackson in October 2024.

Before she died, that summer, a bronze statue depicting her with cubs was dedicated at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois.

Bantle said he’s not sure if The Boss will ever get such a monument.

When the inevitable happens, Canadians will be saddened.

“I think people will sorely miss him. Locally here, and throughout Canada. I’m sure he will be commemorated, I’m not sure how,” Bantle said.

It was tough hearing about how Grizzly 399 died, and Bantle and his fellow Canadians hope that The Boss doesn’t suffer such a fate.

“If his passing is tragic, it will be tough for all of us to swallow. If it is something that was human-caused, that would be hard. Let’s hope it’s something natural,” he said.

As long as The Boss lives, Bantle will continue to be fascinated by him.

“Just think if you could sit down and have a pint with him. And can you imagine the stories he could tell his kids and grandkids?” he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.