Bear 399 jaywalking across traffic with her cubs in the Jackson Hole area.

(Image credit: Thomas Mangelsen)

Across 53 challenging days between fall 2020 and spring 2021, a 360-pound (160 kilograms) young male grizzly bear nicknamed "Lingenpolter" tried to cross Interstate 90 in western Montana 46 times. High-resolution GPS tracking showed him moving parallel to four lanes of roaring traffic, bouncing off the highway like a furry pinball as he searched for a gap.

Eventually, Lingenpolter beat the odds, probably by slipping under a river bridge. But his hero's journey shows what a formidable barrier a busy highway can be for wildlife, Cecily Costello , a research wildlife biologist at Montana's Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told Live Science.…