CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The death of the world’s most famous grizzly bear on a western Wyoming highway has left its cub orphaned, but biologists say the boy’s chances of survival – even with a cold mountain winter approaching – are Good.

“High survival rate for the yearling, even when alone,” says Grand Teton National Park bear biologist Justin Schwabedissen.

It should be a reassurance to the many worries.

After grizzly No. 399 was killed in a vehicle attack south of Jackson Hole on Tuesday, the fate of her male cub has been a major topic of discussion on a popular Facebook page dedicated to tracking the bear and her previous cubs. Apparently unharmed from the crash, the cub has not been seen since.

Some online commentators say the cub – informally known as ‘Rowdy’ or ‘Spirit’ – needs to be found and rescued.

Others agree with the usual approach of nature managers: don’t interfere with nature. So far, no cub survey has been announced.

If the cub had been born last winter, survival would be much less likely.

But the age of this youngster of almost two years, his healthy size and the season – almost time to dress safely and comfortably for the winter – are factors that work in his favor, according to Schwabedissen.

Dangers to grizzly bears in the region, aside from highways, include being shot when the scent of carcasses brings them into accidental confrontations with elk hunters. Others are killed when they become overly hungry for apples, dog food, garbage and other human food sources near homes and become a risk to humans.

This 28-year-old mother bear was the oldest known female grizzly bear in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Starting in 2004, she had eighteen cubs in eight litters and had a penchant for hanging out with them along roads in Grand Teton.

Such behavior made her a hit with tourists, sometimes attracting hundreds at a time and causing traffic jams. Dozens of nature photographers and scientists – she was named after a numbered tag they put in her ear – also watched her.

She’s not the only famous animal in the region. Last summer, a confirmed sighting of a rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone caused widespread excitement.

Only a handful of people saw the bison calf shortly after birth and there have been no sightings since. But according to Native American legend, the calf fulfills an ancient prophecy and portends better times.

In 2009, a 330-kilogram Yellowstone bull elk, known by its ear tag number, attracted attention when it died at the ripe old age of at least 15 years. Famous for its aggressive behavior towards other males – and cars – Moose No. 6 suffocated after tripping over a fence and becoming stuck on its back among rocks.

Other wildlife in the Yellowstone area is known only when it is dead, such as a wolf that was hit by a man on a snowmobile and taken to a bar in western Wyoming before killing it last winter.

Grizzly No. 399 and her cub are leaving a more uplifting legacy: helping people appreciate grizzlies as their numbers in the Yellowstone region continue to recover from just over 100 in the 1970s to about 1,000 today.

Some of her offspring have given birth to cubs that are now much older than her youngest, who now walks around on her own and has to fend for herself.

“She was truly an icon and ambassador not only for her species, but for the wildness of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins.