A few hours after the dead cub was retrieved, webcam viewers noticed a large, brown, stationary object at the lakeshore near where the cub died. It did not move in the following days. Due to its size, color, and location, park staff believed it was a dead bear. Since the possibility for a disease outbreak or human-caused deaths existed, park staff decided to return to Brooks River, conduct a gross field necropsy, and send samples to a lab for further analysis. Weather prevented biologists from getting to Brooks Camp to investigate until Wednesday, October 28, at which time they determined that the large brown object was an adult bear. When they arrived, wildlife technicians conducted a gross necropsy of the bear and identified it as 868, an adult male who was first seen as an independent bear at Brooks River in 2006.
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