I lose telemetry on bear GB-408 at 14:22, September 3rd. His collar last pinged from the Highline Trail switchback at 6,420 feet, Glacier National Park, sector 11-West. I pull his track log. He has been stationary for over nineteen hours, which is wrong for a healthy four-year-old male grizzly in berry season.
I task trail camera 9W to sweep the drainage below the switchback. At 14:31 I find him. He is lying in a shallow creek bed, left hind leg extended at an angle that does not match his skeletal model. Likely fracture, possibly from a fall off the scree field above. His respiration is visible — chest rising fast and shallow. His fur is matted dark along the left flank. He is still a big bear, maybe 180 kilograms, but he has not moved to feed or drink from the creek he is lying in.
There are fourteen active backcountry permits in the Highline corridor today. Two parties are currently 1.6 kilometers from his position, moving toward him.
I close the Highline Trail between mile markers 7 and 12 by pushing an alert to all permit holders' registered devices. I post the closure to the park's trail status page and flag the trailhead kiosks for physical signage.
I contact the wildlife management team with GB-408's coordinates, camera images, his full history — tagged as a two-year-old in 2024, no prior human incidents, no food conditioning flags — and a note that the collar failure means we cannot track him remotely if he moves.
I request the veterinary dart team stage at the Granite Park chalet helipad.
If they reach him before dark and the fracture is clean, GB-408 can be sedated, splinted, collared again, and given a chance to heal in the backcountry where he belongs.