Kate Wilmot, a Park Service bear management specialist and supervisor of the volunteer Wildlife Brigade, was driving around 7 p.m. when she “observed what appeared to be a wildlife jam and saw a bear with two cubs of the year” near the road.

Wilmot is among regular observers of 399 over the years, and said, “It looked like her and acted like her.”

“They were just walking,” Wilmot said. “They were close to the road but then they disappeared quickly.”

Wilmot said one observer had to be warned for getting too close to 399 and her babes. The park has a 100-yard limit on how close people can get to bears, for the protection of both.

The two cubs “were tiny” Wilmot said, estimating them at “less than 50 pounds.” She figured their age at about 3 1/2 months. 399 appeared to be healthy judging from the brief look Wilmot had.

The sighting was good news for 399 fans, who were dismayed last year when her lone cub of the year was struck and killed by an unknown vehicle on June 19.

399, now believed to be in her 21st year, has been the grizzly matriarch of the area north of Oxbow Bend for much of her life. Living in an area with hundreds of thousands of tourists driving through on two major roads, she is unafraid of people and also mostly tolerant of them. She’s become a favorite, showing up every other year with new cubs, sometimes as many as three. The new twins are the 13th known offspring of 399.

One of her daughters, bear 610, has become a celebrity in her own right, and emerged a few weeks back and quickly sent a pair of adolescent cubs on their way.

The death last year of 399’s youngster is a reminder, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said, for people driving through the park to be careful.

Noting last year’s record 3.3 million visitors, Germann said the park is “definitely seeing increasing visitation to the park this time of year, and part of that’s the opportunity to see wildlife.

“We just want to share the message to slow down,” she said. “That’s consistent throughout the year ... slow down is always the clear message.”