Timothy Treadwell: Bear “Expert” Killed By Bears (Page 1)
Sometimes people do things so incredibly inane and stupid that it makes me wonder how our species has survived on this planet for so long. I remember seeing Treadwell’s “Grizzly Diaries” on TV and thinking to myself that he was eventually going to get taken by one of the bears he got so close to. And that’s exactly what happened.
We now have two dead human beings and two dead bears. And for what? Nothing except the self-promoting vanity and self-deceiving delusions of a man who apparently had nothing better to do with his life than harass wild animals that really wanted nothing more than to be left alone.There’s more to this story, unfortunately, though. Treadwell’s death is indicative of two dangerous trends. The first is the tendency of stars of nature documentaries and television programs to try to get as close as physically possible to dangerous animals and the second is the anthropomorphization of wild animals by animal rights advocates.
Steve Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter) was probably the first TV show host to get recklessly close to dangerous animals and there’s been a succession of other animal TV shows that have followed in his footsteps (Jeff Corwin, O’Shea, etc.). While the audience might find what these guys do entertaining, they set a very dangerous example for their viewers (especially the young and impressionable ones).
Treadwell: Reckless, dangerous and now dead.
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It must be nice to be so sure of everything from behind your desk, worrying only about the tragedy of a paper cut.
Yes, it is. Quite nice actually.
It’s too bad the bears had to be killed because of what was probably just their natural response to the presence of easy prey in their hunting grounds, but to condemn Treadwell’s actions as stupid or insane just because they caused his own death is pretty high and mighty on your part. At least he was doing something interesting with his life. Despite the two bear casualties, he actually might have done something positive about habitat preservation, which is the only thing that will save the big predators. As passionate as he was about bears, I bet he would have thought it was worth it.
Interesting viewpoints, both those expressed in the posting and that of the respondents. Still, there are a few things that need to be explored.
I couldn’t help but to notice that both respondents (as of this writing) seem supportive of Treadwell’s behavior. Perhaps they need to take a more objective look.
Treadwell decided that Katmai was a good place to do his “research”, despite it’s being a preserve and well (for Alaska) monitored for poaching and other incursions. What then, was Treadwell “protecting” these bears from? There are many more wild lands in AK with large bear populations, but many of them are far less hospitable for even summer camping. With this already being a preserve, what exactly was he doing for “habitat preservation?”
Second, having seen at least one of his TV shorts (during which I labeled him “nuts†for his behavior and absolute lack of respect for these creatures), I fail to see any positive contribution to the knowledge about bears or their natural history. Doing something interesting with one’s life does not constitute doing anything useful for mankind or for the subjects of his fascination. You could call standing in the middle of a busy freeway a traffic study, but it would just be another suicidal means for getting one’s jollies, something I fear that Mr. Treadwell duplicated with his cavalier treatment of half ton carnivores. If he considers ending his existence as a steaming pile of bear dung as being somehow uplifting, then it is fully apparent that his earlier fascination - illicit drugs - certainly had their effect on damaging brain tissue.
Extremism, even in preserving the natural world, generally serves no real purpose, except to divert resources from undertakings that will have a long term positive effect on the land. Having to protect those too foolish to do so themselves, as with the hippyesque behavior of Mr. Treadwell, or to counteract the more malicious acts of militants like Earth First, simply drains resources that could be used for meaningful research and action.
I’m sorry, I can only feel sorry for the two bears that were destroyed for the crime of being bears, something with which Mr. Treadwell seems to have been blissfully unaware.
I don’t know much about Treadwell (have only read a bit about his bear adventures) so you could be right about him being a wacko. Regardless, conservation is primarily a question of public opinion, and the people who work in the wild with large predators, whatever their secondary (perhaps selfish) motivations, are mainly doing what they do because they believe it is an effective way to publicize and preserve the last, few remaining unspioled places. Teadwell’s exuberant risk-taking with wild bears is different from traffic dodging and more engaging for most folks mainly because it taps into a basic need to connect with what is wild and natural, even if it is also very dangerous. Is what Treadwell did “extreme”? For him it certainly had terminal consequences, but it is not even remotely comarable to the extremism of Earth First.
I think Henry Beston said it better than anyone ever has: “They [animals] are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations . . .â€
Having lived in Alaska for sixteen years, having studied both wildlife and fisheries biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and having had an encounter or two of my own with large brown bears, I can only say that Mr. Treadwell either had a death wish or was dillusional. What strikes me, however, is the disregard he showed for the life and safety of his girlfriend.
To respect animals fully is to treat them fairly. Leave them alone. Observe from a distance. New Age philosophy means nothing to wild animals. Just leave them be. Everyone will be better off.
Well, even with young Mr. Treadwell’s transition to the products of a bear’s digestive tract, his legacy lives on.
A few days ago, some fool at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, left the path, crossed a wooden barrier and climbed a fence to get an up close and personal experience with a timber wolf. Unfortunately, the wolf had never seen a Disney movie and reacted as wild things generally do when someone surprises them with a well intentioned pat on the back. This particular canid, despite being quite advanced in age, was able to grab tightly onto the lady’s arm. His reticence about returning the limb in the condition in which he found it resulted in the loss of his life, as a zoo police officer had to dispatch him with a single revolver shot. Tranquilizers would not have worked in this case, as the time span before they take effect would have exposed the interloper to substantial additional punishment. The last timber wolf at the Brookfield zoo was sacrificed to another loony that too late found that real wolves have no interest in terpsichorian activities.
Once again, this same disrespect for creatures of the wild, disguised as love, had a tragic ending. Once again, a human had fooled herself into believing that a large carnivore would behave like a spaniel puppy because she approached it with “love.” And, as is so often the case, the wild creature got the proverbial short end of the stick.
How can someone purport to “love” a wild creature while at the same time refuse to recognize it as such? As the biologist in an earlier response noted, simply treating the objects of one’s affection with respect would have averted this tragedy, Treadwells, ad nauseum. Having the same educational background as he/she noted, I am painfully aware of these loss of these magnificent creatures and the steps that must be taken to preserve them.
Treating them as you would a house pet is definitely not the way to do that.
In response to Treadwell being a drug abuser. I live near an Indian reservation that has serious problems with alcohol and drug abuse. I’ve worked with quite a few of these old boys who have had serious abuse problems and it makes me wonder if this abuse destroys their common sense. I probably shouldn’t feel this way but at times I wonder if they would have brains enough to poor piss out of a boot it the instructions were on the heal. How long do you ’spose it will be before Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin and company will end up getting theirs?
I totally agree with your observations about the incredible stupidity of Treadwell (and about Ritter). Nuff said.
Improving the gene pool by removing yourself from it, Darwin in action.
I have concluded that Mr. Treadwell has somehow convinced himself that he was living in the millenium where the “Lion lies down with the lamb and the little child”. If Mr. Treadwell was as knowledgable about bears as he claimed to be then he probably would be alive today. This leads me to believe that Mr. Treadwell was a very foolish man, who lived a very foolish life.
No doubt many Alaskans see this story in a manner that is similar to the way I see letters to the (local newspaper) editor against hunting. Most of these urban/suburban people have never actually faced nature, and (as has been said previously) know nature only from Disney, wishful New Age pontifications, and falsified nature shows. As a country boy who has seen the effects of encroachment upon habitat with overpopulation of grazers, etc., I know better. How few people realize that the movie “Bambi” portrayed a poacher, not a hunter? How few of these folks have seen a weakened, starving deer pulling itself along through the snow on its forelegs, to be ripped half apart alive by predators? Few, I’d guess.
Note that Leonardo DiCaprio’s webpages on Treadwell state that “[his work] continued with his tireless education and awareness campaign, presenting his expedition photographs and videos to schoolchildren in the lower 48 states, reaching more than 10,000 children each year.†There are letters from some of these children, demonstrating how he was far from benign in spreading idiocy. While many of his messages were good, they were incomplete and the means used to convey them were inappropriate and ultimately dangerous for the bears as well as himself.
Most know only partial truth, and as Alexander Pope wrote:
A little Learning is a dang’rous Thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.
Methinks they are intoxicated with shallow draughts: so many people these days are without discipline (this included Treadwell) and don’t want to make any effort to learn, or to face the consequences of, the “whole truth.†They want the feel-good sound byte. (sic)
But come on, let’s get with the program: “objective reality” is so pre-Baby Boomer!
Timothy was an egotistical idiot. Same goes for Roy (white tiger lover)and Steve (my kids play with aligators and pythons). Wild animals are wild animals, and we should leave them alone unless we are out legally hunting them. That Hollywood idolizes these clowns only attests to the level our society has sunk to. We’ve put the worth of animals above our own worth and begun to worship them and nature instead of the One who created the world.
No tears for Timothy Treadwell, a self-absorbed egoist whose death was a long time coming. The man represents everything that true Alaskans detest about outsiders: meddling know-it-alls who try to interfere with their way of life.
I’m surprised this bozo never ended up in the Darwin Awards.
Timothy Treadwell was total idiot! I find it hard to believe that people are “singing†his praises for his work. As the rangers said, it was a matter of “when†not “if†he would be killed. Leave Mother Nature alone! Appreciate her at a distance.
These people like Treadwell are on a power trip - I don’t care how they veil over it with pleas to love the animals. HE could go to bears and told other’s NOT to copy him. Like Jesus walking on the water, he could go up to wild bears and they would accept him. Guess he was a really important special man who the bears correctly saw as somebody to respect and give a free pass too. Those smart bears loved him soooooo much, he just walked in looooovve.
In response to the comment about Treadwell probably thinking his death was worth it because he had done something positive with his life… Umm, I just bet if we could ask him about those last two minutes or so and give him a chance to change it, he would not only give up bears but booze and babes as well!!
Although there is a great need for the large number of individuals that have never been exposed to the complexities and importance of nature to be educated thereof, those that “bravely crusade†to promote preservation and appreciation through such means as Timothy Treadwell in fact achieve just the opposite. Wild animals are reduced to levels of domesticated, kind-hearted pets, docile towards the human beings that believe themselves so superior. Anyone that approaches a wild carnivore, or any wild animal for that matter, deserve whatever they receive, and hopefully it is enough to leave a permanent reminder that humans carry pepper spray for a reason. The last time I checked, rabbits live in harmony and “in touch†with their environment, as these individuals boast to, but even they still possess the intelligence not to walk straight up to a grizzly bear. If we ever hope to truly appreciate the value of nature and live alongside it, we must first learn its natural order - big things eat little things that plant their tent in the middle of their trail and try to play with them.
Does anyone have any comments about the shows that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have done with their “friend”, the pal to Grizzlies? It sickened me to see that man allow the bear to take his head in his mouth, and to hear that man say “I just want to be one with the bears”. Sound familiar, Timothy? I would like to hear comments since the man and his wife (can’t remember their names or their non-profit organization) seem to think they are doing the bears a favor by taming them and showing them off to the public at large. Also, Discovery Channel was supposed to air a special on Timothy Treadwell, but it just wasn’t on TV (no explanation was given) and is not scheduled. Does anyone know anything about that?
Very well written, Jim.
Treadwell was a self-deluding and emotionally disturbed man whose philosophy on bears and nature was irrational and contradictory. How does approaching bears and getting unnaturally close to them do _anything_ to further their well-being or our understanding of them? A certain well-known scientist wrote that Treadwell’s “work” added nothing to the body of scientific knowledge about bears. Ultimately the only real reason Treadwell was out there was his own emotional/psychological problems: he needed to convince himself that there was no danger or suffering in the world, and he needed to convince himself that he was “special”, that he had some mystical “connection” to awe-inspiring power and beauty, that he was somehow “above” the “mundane” rules of reality that hold the rest of us.
As someone else pointed out, the rabbit lives closer to nature than any person, and it doesn’t need to approach wild and dangerous predators to do it. You can’t “commune with nature” while at the same time acting in conflict with it and refusing to allow nature to be what it is. Any hunter is being more a part of nature than Treadwell ever was: A hunter takes his natural place in the natural order of things, hunting prey as a natural predator that he is (as humans we are all predators, whether we’ll admit it or not). The hunter isn’t living in conflict with the natural order, like Treadwell was. The hunter isn’t trying to make wild animals be something they aren’t, like Treadwell was.
Treadwell tried to go against the nature of reality. It’s a game of Russian roulette that reality never loses.
In response to the bulk of these commenters which choose to verbally denigrate a dead man, I can only conclude that the authors are filled with powerful emotions. But why would folks be filled with so much anger at a man who dedicated his life to a cause clearly driven by love for grizzlies? I suspect they are angry at him for what his life’s work implies. That bears are worth protecting because they are a species of individuals, as we are. Treadwell was trying to show that bears can respect human life even though they are more powerful physically than we are. This he showed innumerable times, and has produced the footage to prove it. Yes, he finally came across a bear that was, shall we say, barbaric and killed him. What is the ratio, though, of bears that killed Treadwell to bears that didn’t kill Treadwell here? How many bears did he approach successfully before one killed him? Many bears chose not to kill him before one did. Now, if the roles are reversed and a bear walks up to a human with a gun, how many humans will choose to not kill the bear. Many humans even actively seek to kill bears for enjoyment. Who is the more dangerous species to the other? Clearly humans kill more bears and humans than bears kill humans. Furthermore, humans kill humans in no less barbaric ways than that shown by the bear that killed Treadwell. Treadwell’s life shows that bears are not simply vicious automatons bent on the destruction of humanity, but have wide ranging responses to the presence of humans, which include barbarousness; just as we have wide ranging responses to bears. That is what I believe the commenters above are angry about. Those verbally abusive folks are angry at him because they want to be able to kill bears or continue to perceive themselves as inherently “superior” to bears. How can they justify killing bears and destroying their habitat if bears are shown to possess a wide range of personalities and character? Society will eventually decide that the commitment of atrocities against bears is as impermissible as the commitment of atrocities against humans. These men are afraid of losing the right to hunt bears and harvest their habitat, and therefore hate Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell perhaps was a fool, but he made his own choices, his girlfriend made hers, the bears made theirs, and the troopers and legislators that determined the policies for the park that killed the bears made theirs. They all deserve their share of responsibility for the full story. The angry above seek, subconsciously I am sure, to distract the undecided from the true debate and sway the opposition by calling Treadwell and those that think like him names. How can folks reach adulthood thinking that name-calling is an appropriate communication technique. They clearly do not seek debate; only agreement with their perspective. They seek ideological domination, not mutual understanding.
You, like Treadwell, are out to lunch on the REALITY of bears Rob. Please wake up before you convince others to share your delusions and endanger themselves or the bears.
Bears are predators, they are NOT our friends. They do not know us, they do not “love†us and they are meant to be respected and appreciated - from a distance. They are not “barbaric†in any way whatsoever. They are simply predators doing what predators do. Please begin to understand that and begin to deal with reality rather than your own emotions.
Wake up before you encourage someone else to try what killed Treadwell and his girlfriend.
Jim, thanks for the insult. While I enjoy my lunch let me reply to your rebuttal. I have not advocated that others �endanger themselves or the bears,� though I do advocate that others enquire into the qualities of my argument, which you choose to denigrate as a delusion.
I agree with you that bears are predators, though technically they are omnivores, as we are. Furthermore, we are predators as fully as they. So my first response is that if we base our policies toward them on that fact, we should hold the same policy for ourselves. But no, that is not what you are suggesting. You are saying that there is a fundamental difference between and us and bears, one that makes it important that we treat them differently than we treat other humans. With this I agree. The nature of this difference is that we cannot sit down and make an agreement of non-violence with bears and have any certainty that they will honor it. Though humans violate such agreements all the time, we nonetheless are capable of establishing a dialog amongst ourselves. Through language we have access to each other in a way we do not have with bears.
In spite of this fact, you are mistaken on a number of points. First, bears can be friends with humans. Of course it depends on how one describes friendship, but as friendship is most adequately characterized by the person engaging in the relationship, it is best left as an individual determination. Therefore, you can only say that bears are not your friends. I may very well find that spending time in close proximity to a bear to be a rewarding experience, and in fact there are many examples of humans that claim this type of relationship with bears, even if the relationship eventually kills them. If we followed the logic that because a relationship is dangerous we should avoid it, we would have to vow never find ourselves in a moving vehicle again. Autos kill far more people than bears do. Furthermore, when two individuals spend time together and learn to predict the actions of the other, even if it is as rudimentary as knowing when it is meal time, one cannot say that those individuals do not know each other. Bears are certainly capable of �knowing� humans in this way. I agree that most bears do not love us, though once again, some clearly do love some of us. Lastly, I agree that bears are not barbaric, but their actions, just like humans, can be; and when an individual chooses barbaric actions frequently enough, they can begin to earn the label.
So, bears are complex entities. They are far more complex than you give them credit for in my opinion. Though they are predators, so are we. So what is it that predators do? Kill humans? Clearly not all bears do this. Predators do not fit into such a narrow definition. We are predators. Are you saying that we are doing what predators do, which is to kill bears? Are you suggesting that we are mindless automatons following what we are designed to do to bears? Actually, I understand that that is almost what you are saying, minus the �mindless automaton� part. You are suggesting that we should kill bears if we so desire because that is how god made us.
I feel I understand your perspective in spite of your insults. And you have spent no time in your response addressing the issues that I raised. Let me briefly recount:
1. Bears respond to humans in a wide variety of ways, not simply with killing them, and in many ways that both parties clearly find fulfilling.
2. Humans respond to bears and humans in a wide variety of ways, not excluding killing them.
3. Therefore bears have value through the very fact of their existence, as I feel we do.
4. It is likely that bears value their own existence just as I know we do.
Therefore, humans should as a matter of policy grant bears the right to exist, just as we do with other humans. This is the entirety of my argument. I am not suggesting that we touch bears, only provide for their continued existence, respect their personal space, and indeed allow them to keep their personal space.
However, if a human chooses to relate to a bear, it may end tragically, but it is that human�s choice. It is important to clarify where responsibility lies and who truly owns it. I will not tell you to stay away from vehicles because 50,000 Americans are killed yearly by them. That is your choice. However, if you drink and drive you threaten others. The problem only begins when third parties are affected. Treadwell�s tragedy was his own and his loved one�s, a first party tragedy. (Your insults to him border on a kind of blasphemy as you both tell a dead man how to live his lost life and call him an idiot for dying. You clearly do not care at all about Treadwell and are glad of how his end bolsters your argument.) However, if a bear is put down by Treadwell�s choices, it is a third party tragedy from society�s perspective, though not necessarily from the bear�s. Treadwell�s girlfriend made her own choices freely. Hers was a first party tragedy. The affect Treadwell has on the foolhardy is a third party tragedy from societies perspective, but a first party tragedy from their own, unless they are minors. When do you force people to live as you want and curtail their freedom to live and die as they choose in the name of protecting them? You fall subject to hubris when you tell others how to spend their lives.
Allowing a human-killing bear to run free could cause other third party tragedies, and is the soundest argument for your ideas, followed by how Treadwell�s life may encourage others to take risks they will regret. However, you stray so far from this wholesome two-pillared argument that it is clear you bring other issues to this table, most likely emotional issues relating to your own desire to harvest bears or their habitats, or religious ones.
This is how I see reality. I understand that you see some things differently, though perhaps not all. I respect that, but I find it difficult to respect the manner in which you address the issue. Why do you give me the command to �begin to understand [your perspective] and begin to deal with reality rather than [my] own emotions.� You offer none of your rational underpinnings, and only maxims, postulations, and insults. If you found your perspective upon a bible passage, fond memories of hunts with your father, or the need to keep a steady stream of income from bear habitat flowing, state it. Beneath all perspectives lie values, not logic. Beneath my logic lies the desire to know that this planet�s life fulfills its potential beauty. Life is most beautiful when free, healthy and in its natural habitat. Life becomes ugly when there is overwhelming death and imbalance caused by excessive microorganismal growth, drought, or greed, for example. I see bears (as well as humans) as beautiful. Though they are definitely beautiful as trophies on a wall, and no doubt hunting them is a beautiful experience, as well as the furniture made from trees in their habitat, they are far more beautiful to me as living organisms, free to make choices, and free to be watched as they relate to other creatures. Beauty is at the root of my perspective. They all differ from each other and to watch one is not the same as watching another. Beauty is one thing that I value and the primary value underlying my perspective in this issue. Upon this value I build my logic.
Your values are no less valid. Who can judge another man values? You live your life as you see fit. Yet, we cannot begin to have a worthwhile discussion while petty insults and foundationless passions are thrown at each other like projectiles. Yes, I have strong emotions on the subject, as you clearly do. Why do you fail to address the reasoning underlying my perspective, and respond only with simple refutations and insults. You are clearly an intelligent individual.
I’m sure as Mr. Treadwell was being eaten alive his thoughts were not of saving the bears. When I watched Tim walking up to arms reach of these huge beasts, I feared it was only a matter of time before he approached the wrong bear. Too save the great predators of the world we must keep them at a distance. Getting killed by a bear does nothing to help save them.
As I look at these comments I am reminded of the diversity of opinions regarding Chris McCandless, the young man who hiked into the wilderness to live off the land and starved to death on the Stampede Trail north of Denali in the early 90’s.
The parallels between Treadwell and McCandless are significant. Both were relatively intelligent, personable men from affluent backgrounds. Both attempted to remake themselves, changing their identity, facts about their youth and families, etc. Both were avid outdoorsman who took incredibly foolhardy risks with their personal safety and got away with it. They both seemed to be seeking some sort of persoal soalce in their wilderness experiences. Both showed a fundemental disregard for basic fieldcraft and the risks posed by the Alaska Outdoors. Both chose the Alaska wilderness as the place to recklessly end their lives.
The reactions are also very similar. Some saw McCandless as an adventurer on an epic quest; others saw a fool; still others saw a recklessness that bordered on suicideal intent. It was mostly outsiders who saw McCandless as heroic or noble.
Most Alaskans, particularly those with outdoor experience saw McCandless as either a naive, troubled and very ill-prepared moron who got what he deserved or as a troubled young man who chose a particularly flamboyant way to end his life.
I think most Alaskans who are familiar with this country see Treadwell as a reckless fraud. He clearly was not honest about his background, even to close friends and supporters.
More perverse was his fraud about his goals. He claimed he was “preseving habitat” - Katmai is already preseved and is in no danger of encroachment. He claimed he was “saving bears from poachers” - there is no poaching in Katmai. With a few exceptions, there is not much interest in poaching brown bears in Alaska. Residents can get a tag and hunt them legally in many areas. Non-residents must hire a liscensed guide. Most of the “poaching” consists of illegal bait stations - something that would be pretty obvious in Katmai - and unlicensed guiding - something that would be even more obvious in Katmai. He claimed he was saving endangered bears. Alaska and particularly the Alaska Peninsula has one of the healthiest populations of brown bears in the world. These bears are not threatened or endangered. They are generally free to live, eat and die without much bother.
Although it is easy to dismiss Treadwell as another charlatan or suicidal end of the roader, I believe that this is unduly harsh. If Treadwell was a fraud, I believe he was self-delusional; he actually believed he was saving bears, that there were poachers close by and that the bears were endangered. He actually believed that he was doing behavioral research. He was an amatuer naturalist and his lack of training, education and knowledge led him to believe, based on his own anecdotal experience, that he was correct.
Although it easy to poke fun at someone who died in such a stupid and violent manner, if my theory is correct, then Treadwell would have liked to have gone this way - not because it’s a smart or rational thought, but because, in his self-deluded world this is a productive way to check out. He has brought publicity to his “endangered bears, maybe scared off the mythical poachers, and kept the invisible bulldozers out of Katmai.
This appears to be a debate between bear biology and bear metaphysics. That is somewhat like a game between a hockey team and a soccer team on a baseball diamond. Both sides of the debate are playing by different rules and can’t even agree on the playing field.
Bear metaphysics aside, the biology of this is pretty simple. Brown bears are territorial and unpredictable. They don’t know what people are or what their intent is. They arent capable of that kind of thought. All they are aware of is something is too close to them. Sometimes they will let it slide and sometimes they will react. The reaction may be subtle like moving farther away or more dramatic like a charge or a slap or a bite.
Just beacause this man had closely approached bears without incident in the past did not mean that he was some sort of bear whisperer. It meant only that, on that particular day with that particular bear, he got away with it. On the last day he learned how tragically flawed his science was.
The true tragedy is that he dragged his girlfriend into his dangerously self-deluded world and that she had to pay such a price for loving a man.
These animal rights wackos are attempting to put animals at the same level as humans - they are wild, dangerous and do not have emotions, feelings or thinking processes like humans which Disney and the rest of the anti-God crowd wish to deceive the public with: Man was made in God’s image, that therefore puts tim above the animal world - we think, feel plan, learn - animals are still digging the same holes in the same ground..you’ll notice none of them have come up with computers, high rises, poetry or classical novels - I’ve never seen an animal build a home above anything they did 1000 years ago - why is that?! and Please, why is it right and okay for animals to eat animal eat (i.e. each other) while it is not okay for man at the top of the food chain to do so please enlighten me
I was deeply impressed by the beatiful images of bears and nature, and it really does evoke a great deal of respect towards the amazing creation. People have risked their lives at doing more stupid things than trying to get more insight on animal behaviour. Timothy said that it’s all about tolerance - tolerating nature. And that’s what his show helped me to do.
I am a 21 year Alaskan and licensed Alaskan fishing guide - my research on the Treadwell idiocy started with a well meaning but misguided relative sending me a photo of what was purported to be the remains of Treadwell at the attack site. This led me to researching Treadwell on Google - where I found this site (nice blog) and also stumbled across the Sierra Club site. I have seen the videos of the Hollywood stars acting out fantasies with wild animals - of course, like Timothy, many of them have also acted out fantasies with illicit drug use and abuses of their own bodies. I am always mindful of WHOM is speaking before I take their advice (especially that free advice).
In response to the Sierra Club site, I was prompted to email Secretary Norton as to my feelings of removing grizzlies from the endangered species list. My letter to her is below (also sent to all of our state reps, senators and congressman as well as many inside ADF&G).
by the way - Rob - you are in danger of leaving a legacy like Treadwell. Please - do not venture off the pavement, for your own safety! People like you scar children’s reality in horrible ways. Treadwell has done his damage, let his legacy be his stupidity.
my letter to Secretary Norton:
Secretary Norton,
I am writing concerning the status of the Grizzlies protection status. I don’t know and will not pretend (as some do) to know about the status of grizzlies in the lower 48.
Take the Grizzly OFF the endangered list. Sooner than later. Human lives are endangered while the grizzly enjoys undue protection.
What I do know is about the abundance of grizzly/brown bears in SouthCentral Alaska. We have more than our fair share - thanks. For those folks feeling the grizzly is still an endangered species, I would like them to adopt a grizzly to live in their backyard (not in a zoo, hey - let’s let them be free, right??). I do live with grizzlies and black bears in my back/front/side yard. And I live WITHIN city limits of one of Alaska’s larger cities. Over the past 2 summers, I have had to chase black bears out of my yard so that my toddler could play outdoors. I am within 3 houses of a major box store, less than 1/8th of a mile from the Parks Highway, and right in a busy, populated, paved, modern neighborhood.
My wife was attacked by a female black bear in Anchorage while she was 7 months pregnant with our daughter (now 3). Our wonderful public servants (rick_sinnott@fishgame.state.ak.us) in Anchorage defended the bear that left nice claw marks on our car as it tried to get at her. And this was a bear that wore a radio collar and 2 ear tags - seems she was as well known to ADF&G (rick_sinnott@fishgame.state.ak.us) as the bears in Kaflia were to Timothy Treadwell. We know how that crappy story ended (Mr Sinnot may need reminding of that call made in July of 2000 - this is the bear that was spotted several more times over the next few weeks, in Anchorage, and with cubs. Hey - THREE problem bears!) My wife was needing to be on the endangered species list at that point. I have no desire to hunt down a bear, but a bear that has been tagged and collared THREE times - this is one that needs to be warming the toes in front of a fireplace.
I lived in Anchorage, AK (Alaska’s largest city) for a decade and a half and have seen at least 3 grizzlies in town. While I lived in Anchorage, and in the 1990’s: at least one grizzly bear was killed due to a collision with a motor vehicle; at least one grizzly was ‘put down (shot) by officials due to it wandering ‘too far (read: into their backyards) in downtown Anchorage; and at least 2 incidents of grizzly bear charges come to mind in the past 5 years on the coastal section of Ship Creek - Alaska’s most urban and heavily fished urban king salmon sportfishery; a short drive (20 miles?) south of Anchorage, in the mid 1990’s, 2 runners were mauled to death by a grizzly above McHugh Creek - a popular recreation area and heavily trafficked by tourists who do not have a clue about the deadly menace so close to the major highways. A roadkill moose in the wrong pull off could mean a dead tourist - what wonderful PR for you and our state… I can see it now: the German tourist stopping to take a photo, decides to slip into brush to relieve himself and - Gunter never makes it home.
Last year, in June, I saw 7 bears in one walk down the lower section of the Russian River. The following day, I was charged by a medium sized sow while I was flyfishing in mid river, at 11am, not a normal time to see bears. ONE week later, another fisherman did not get the chance to walk away, as I did. He suffered, and still is suffering the scars of that brutal mauling that June night. I have also witnessed black and brown bears steal fish from the banks in that area. I float the upper Kenai on a regular basis. If we do not see a bear, we always find their calling cards - tracks, tons of fish carcasses (not fillets, but whole fish stripped of their flesh).
I do not doubt that grizzly bears deserve their lot here in Alaska and in parts of the lower 48. But I strongly disagree with the movement by the Sierra Club and wrong-minded individuals (such as the late Tim Treadwell) who spread misinformation and propaganda about the need to keep the grizzlies on the endangered species list. The very bears that killed Treadwell enjoy a special status: if the bears are within a National Park, a human cannot even protect themselves with a firearm. And believe me - even a heavy caliber .44 magnum revolver is hardly adequate to drop one of these huge beasts. And it inspires NO confidence in the person being charged - more of a last ditch effort to save your scalp - literally.
The Canadian Stephen Herrero who touts his pepper spray solution to bear problems is only going to enhance the likelihood of a human fatality: biologists have found that bears are attracted to the residue left by the spray, that even when sprayed on a bear, it does not always deter an attack and the person spraying is in double danger if the spray is wind blown back to the defender. Then they are incapacitated and totally at the bruins mercy.
I do not hunt bears, and have no desire to shoot one. I am content to let them be. I even release all the trout that I catch - the only occasional hunting I even care to do is for grouse, to fill out a camp meal. But giving grizzlies a protected status is ironic at the least and shameful at the worst - I am predicting now that it will not be too long before Anchorage experiences it’s first human fatality with a grizzly. With the population and the available cover and food sources - it is simply a matter of time. Last year, the Alaska Zoo noted that non zoo bears were harassing the caged critters. What will happen when one of Anchorage’s youngest residents is made into a bear meal?
Another prime reason to remove the bears from protected status is the undue pressure they place on wild game, such as moose. Wolves, too, create too much pressure, as do black bears. I was always taught that nature had a natural balance - that balance is way out of whack in some areas where other game cannot make a strong comeback due to overly populated predators. 4 years ago, I sat and watched 4 grown lynx just a few yards from one of Anchorage’s busiest streets. That’s a cat most Alaskan’s will never see - yet they were RIGHT in town. As game becomes scarcer, the predators move closer and lose more fear of man. This is very dangerous for everyone.
There is a program in Anchorage and other South Central Alaska areas to remove fire danger by removing spruce beetle killed trees. I would hope that our public servants would take the same responsibility in removing dangerous wildlife from a protected status. At least give the humans and docile game a chance.
Timothy should have been a wee bit smarter, packed at least some form of deterrent. Protecting habitat is fine, hunters and conservationists all can agree on it. Trying to save “buddy bear†from all the bad hunters and terrible tourists though is delusional, and just as selfish for his own reasons. Think the folks in the Mountain regions of the US Rockies don’t know what they are talking about when they don’t want these large and sometimes very dangerous predators in their neck of the woods? Personally, I’d love to see them, but reality is you’d better be prepared to see them hunted, and leave the hunters alone too. We don’t pay biologists to monitor bear levels and set bag limits for the hell of it. In Pennsylvania we have an exploding population, and for those who haven’t had the pleasure of having one try to get in their back door, or ripping off their small barn door as I have, and in this case only being black bears, let me tell you, spout your rhetoric elesewhere, or at least get reality-based.
An eco-narcissist in a compensatory rescue-fantasy meets “objective reality.†As the Beatles sung: “All the lonely people where do they all come from…..oh, look at all the lonely people..â€
(Pictures are circulating of his mutilated body.)
Unless you knew him personally you will never understand. Timothy was a unique person who chose to live a dangerious life and do what inspired him. He loved the bears and his work more than his own life. He was not rich nor did he care about fame. The only thing he wanted was to live among them and learn about them. He in return taught many children and adults about the Alaskan bears from up close personal experiences and observations. The only mistake Timothy made was taking someone else with him on his trip who was inexperienced with the bears and that lead to the unfortunate ending. I will miss him for the person he was and the strong passion he had for something he loved. There are not many people who will give their life for something the way he did. No matter who thinks it was stupid , he was a wonderful person even apart from his work and there are many people that will miss him!
I have lived in Alaska for 38 years. I have spent considerable time in the backcountry and i rarely carry seperate bear protection. If I’m hunting in brown bear country i make certain that I use enough rifle to handle whatever I’m hunting and a brown bear. Although they make good stories by the campfire, I am not interested in shooting a charging grizzly under any circumstances. The best insurance against attack is common sense. This is where Treadwell failed.
I understand that you were his friend. Nothing here is intended to say that Treadwell was a bad person or deserving of some sort of ursine retribution for his sins. Everyone who dies is missed by his friends and family.
However the fact that we didn’t know him does not mean we don’t understand. In fact, the lact of personal knowledge gives most of us the objectivity to truly assess what Treadwell did and hopefully prevent it from happening again. If we fail in that endeavor then your friend will truly have died in vain.
Treadwell did not make one mistake, he made multiple mistakes. He deliberately made camp in high grass on a bend of a river that was spiderwebbed with bear trails; he deliberately approached grizzly bears (not only dangerous but it altered their behavior thus negating the scientific value of any of his observations); he copied bear posture and behavior; he ignored repeated demands from knowledgable authorities that he discontinue these practices; and he misled others into believing that these bears were endangered, subject to poaching or habitat encroachment.
What have we learned? Don’t approach grizzly bears. Observe them at considerable distance and make certain that you have enough of a buffer between them and you so you can get away if they decide to investigate you more closely. Don’t camp on bear trails. Don’t camp in heavy brush or scrub in bear country. Treat bears as wild climax carnivores, not as cute anthropomorphic projections of your Alaskan wilderness fantasies.
So toast your friend and miss him. Sing his praises of personality and character (forgetting that he was more than a little disingenuious about his background and history). Celebrate his truly amazing photos. Just don’t try to sell him as a scientist, a naturalist, or someone who made one mistake.
As a former (but still missing AK) Alaskan, I just wanted to thank John for his sensible comments regarding this whole topic.
You can say what you will about Treadwell, but the bottom line is he was a damned fool who got just what he deserved. The only unfortunate thing about the whole incident, is that he led that feeble minded girlfriend of his into believing that what they were doing was not a formula for disaster.
Anyone with an iota of experience with brown bears knows that you do not mess with them. There are too many unfortunate victims of real bear maulings here in Alaska, to feel pity for some self-proclaimed “naturalist†who deliberately provokes such a predator. Treadwell certainly gets my vote for the 2004 Darwin Award.
If there are any others of the same Disney-esque mind set, you have an open invitation to come up and feed the bears.
Random thoughts..
About a year and a half ago my dad showed me a video of Timothy Treadwell’s interaction with the bears. I admired Treadwell’s optimistic view of life, truly on the edge. But I shook my head and said to my dad, “dad it’s only a matter of time: you know it too, don’t you”? He paused and seemed sad as he nodded, “yeah”.
From years ago in an Outdoor Life article, I recall the writers description of the grizzly’s capabilities, “the gizzly can run through a thicket that would check a tank, outrun a man on horseback, and anything it can catch it can kill”.
Our family once kept as a pet, a parakeet. For three years the parakeet went unmolested in his cage. One night we returned to find only his feathers scattered about the kitchen floor. Our Siamese cat, which had grown up with the bird, had tipped over the cage and made a meal of Tweety.
Tragedy by choice, may he rest in peace.
i agree with clarissa. somehow i feel that given the choice, he would have done it all over again. let him rest in peace, all.
Interesting read. I read most of the comments and think both sides believe their views are the correct views. I’ve witnessed people in the Nat’l Parks in the lower 48 approach wildlife. They turn their back on a full grown Bull elk in rut to get him in the background of a picture or try to follow a griz over a hill to get a better look and a possible snap shot.
The problem seems to be that this Tim fella is dead
His girlfriend is dead
Two bears are dead
And common sense is dead
I agree totally with this. No one should get close to dangerous animals at any time.
I’m sure he was a very beautiful person but let’s face it - human beings and wild animals ten times our size are not meant to co-exist. He had been spending summers with these animals for so many years that he became too comfortable and when we become too comfortable we let our guard down and some of the biggest mistakes ever made have been when one lets their guard down.
Mr. Treadwell also commented that he had a previous alcohol/drug addiction but since discovering the bears he “saw the light” and he stopped his alcohol/drug abuse. I commend him for dropping his habit but I think he just traded one addiction for another. Although being warned by many different people about the dangers of his close proximity to the bears, it’s like he just couldn’t help himself but to want to get closer and closer to the bears. I’m sure it was a euphoric feeling - like being high.
He knew very well that the bears natural food source starts to dry up in October as winter approaches and the bears start getting hungry (making them more likely to attack?). He had planned to leave the previous day -in October - but changed his flight and re-arranged his travel plans to leave cuz he just had to stay “one more day” which was the day he was killed. He was addicted to the feeling of being so close to danger in my opinion, going against all rational logic to feed the need.
I love nature and I can appreciate the beauty of living in the wilderness but
one can’t just go plop down one’s tent in the middle of a wild bear den and not expect something like this to happen. May he R.I.P.
Lots of thoughtful insights above. I found this site after learning of Tim’s death only today, while perusing a back issue of Outside while I waited for a haircut. I’d read his book about three years ago, and so of course wasn’t particularly surprised at how he died.
You know, unlike some, I don’t look at Tim’s reinvention of his own past as indicative of any major character flaw. Our culture is full of visionary types who tailor their history to fit their future. Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and Ramblin’ Jack Eliott all invented fictitious pasts, and half the actors in Hollywood seem to have chosen names and personas that hid their middle European roots. Authors are famous for reinventing themselves, too. Me, I give larger-than-life types a pass, if they wish to contribute to their own mythology. It generally harms nobody.
Then there’s the fascination with big bears. Timothy Treadwell was hardly the first person to wish for a spiritual link of some sort with such an awesomely powerful, potent symbol of the wild. I’ve read about how grizzlies were venerated by the Lakota. Nowadays, some people partake of the bear by seeking to kill them. Some are content merely to see and admire them. Others wish to have something of the bear for their own, a claw, a tooth, a skull or a skin. I think Timothy dove way too deeply into this pool, and wished to actually become a bear…perhaps, in a sense, in the end, he succeeded.
My personal take on his attempt to live among bears is that he was deluding himself about his ability to communicate effectively with them. Paradoxically, while he showed that he was capable of observing their behaviors with skill and integrity, he failed to understand the fundamental differences between his psyche and that of a bear. I think I can state with some assurance that sentimentality and metaphysics, both obviously much part of being Timothy Treadwell, are pretty much nothing to most bears. Again, it seems to me that Timothy wanted, badly wanted, to become a bear.
I admired Timothy’s commitment to the bears, although his need to get into close physical proximity to them struck me as less a matter of courage than as some sort of incomprehensible and suicidal compulsion. I wondered about his self-appointed guardianship of the bears, which seemed to be at least somewhat superfluous, and his flair for self-promotion in general, but I never doubted his sincerity.
Much has been made of Timothy’s anthropomorphosizing the bears, and his christening them with silly names. This irks serious wildlife types no end, but I really don’t think Timothy’s field work bore much resemblence to their studies. I tend to place him among the visionaries and holy fools of this world, and not among the scientists. He was a man on a mission, seeking personal redemption of some sort through becoming the protector and savior of a bunch of huge bears, and he clearly wanted to get the rest of us to see these bears as he did…so as far as I’m concerned, he could call them whatever he liked. This literally wasn’t rocket science, or any other kind of science, but a “calling.†(Frankly, I’d have been shocked if Timothy had ever referred to a bear as “IM-23″ or whatever.)
That said, it pains me to conclude that, ultimately Timothy probably did more harm than good - and I don’t just mean that he got himself and a woman killed, as well as two of his beloved bears. For one thing, if his behavior encourages others to attempt getting close to large top predators, then he contributes to more human tragedies, and the resulting increase in dead predators. Second, even when people aren’t attacked, the result can still be deadly. A big animal’s survival can depend on its wariness of humans. Teaching a population of trophy-class bears to think of people as harmless neighbors may prove to be the worst thing you could do to them. And finally, this is, unfortunately, an era in which our political leaders are encouraging us to confuse anti-environmentalism with patriotism. Timothy’s self-initiated demise has given the propagandists a huge, easy target. His reckless disregard for his own safety and that of others provides the nutball “nuke the whales until they glow” right with a classic tale of “animal-lover” extremism which has all the elements they look for: excessive new-age style spiritual overtones, utter impracticality, shades of untruth, and a predictable, sardonic and (to Timothy’s detractors) utterly satisfying ending. (”Hell, wasn’t enough that he was killed, he even got the bears shot on his account.”)
But be that as it may. I guess I’m among the last of Timothy’s fans to learn that he’s gone. So I’m going to raise a glass of wine to Timothy Treadwell tonight. Whatever one can say of him, he was true to his own vision, and an original. His reckless love for the bears came from god knows what need within him, but it was nonetheless totally sincere.
An original, true, and sincere person. Those are qualities that I, for one, value quite highly. So, I salute you, Tim. Go lightly. And thank you for the book.
This is my third post here. For some reason I find Treadwell’s death and the discussion and examination of his life interesting.
I enjoyed Dave’s insight and comments and generally agree. However, I do not think that Treadwell probably harmed any bears (other than the 2 that were shot at his campsite). The concerns raised by Dave were habituation with humans by trophy class animals.
First, some background information:
Alaska is a big empty country. With the exception of the Anchorage bowl, there are really very few opportunities for bears, even somewhat habituated bears to interact with humans. Most of the interaction is indirect, i.e. property damage. Moose are considered a much more prevelant threat to humans that bears.
In Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, we might have a grizzly incident every 2-3 years. Most of the time it involves an adolescent or very old bear scavenging in garbage or dog food. There is some excitement, some property damage and typically a dead bear at the end of the day.
Alaska’s grizzlies are not endangered or threatened. There is some concern about the bears on the Kenai penisula being in decline due to loss of habitat but generally the state population is estimated at 40,000 individual bears. There are about 1000 grizzly bears in the rest of the the U.S.
Numbers of grizzly bears have probably increased in Interior Alaska since the 1950s. We base this on incidental observations by older hunters, local residents, cabin owners, and Native elders, who all indicate that grizzly bear numbers have increased. This is corroborated to some degree by modern studies. For example, grizzly bears were recently found to be significant predators of moose calves on the Yukon Flats and are commonly seen by local residents, whereas 20-30 years ago, observations of grizzly bears were rare.
Grizzly bear populations appear to be much more resilient to harvest than previously believed. During the last 10 years, the Alaska Board of Game has made a deliberate effort to reduce numbers of grizzly bears in a few important hunting areas (e.g. Game Management Unit 13-the Nelchina Basin) by increasing the bag limit and extending hunting seasons. So far, these new regulations have had no noticeable affect on grizzly bear populations even though hunters have taken an increased number of bears.
Treadwell was involved with the bears in Katmai. Although the Alaska Peninsula bears are big (believed to be largely a result of the amount of salmon in their diet) they are not hunted or unusually large.
By Lower 48 standards, Katmai is huge (Gross Area Acres - 4,726,673. That is the size of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Glacier combined. It is also remote. There are no roads to Katmai and it is 300 air miles from Anchorage. Access is by float plane. The area around the park is not populated so you don’t have a problem with bears stepping over the park boundary and getting immediately hunted.
There are about 2000 bears in Katmai. This is the densest population of grizzlies in the world. That leaves a lot of bears - trophy class bears for others to hunt. There have been 13 documented cases of poaching in Katmai since 1973. There are easier and more legal ways of harvesting bears in Alaska then going all the way to Katmai to poach one.
So where does that leave us with Treadwell? I don’t think he did much good, I don’t think he did much harm (other to himself and his girlfriend). He was a rather interesting person who took some really cool pictures and did some really stupid things. He didn’t help the bears all that much but, in the end, I don’t think he really hurt them either. The bears will come out of their dens this spring, scratch themselves, and go about their lives just fine without Treadwell’s stewardship and observation.
I don’t Timothy Treadwell really wanted to become bear scat, as his last words (heard on tape from his camcorder which was left turned on when it was packed) were HELP! I’m being killed.
Malibu California “bear expert”? Should have stuck with surfing. I feel more sorry for the poor bear that had to be destroyed because this nut and his feeble minded girlfriend invaded his space.
I think we should all be more like Timothy Treadwell, and I’m going to start tonight: I’m going to start camping in Central Park. I feel I can get closer to humans this way.
I grieve for all the writers on this blog. I see heart, soul, mind, spirituality all trying to come to terms with Timothy’s death and the death of 2 bears. I read brilliant passages and am moved and humbled by both the science and passion I see written.
Over 5 years ago, I was able to visit Katmai on a float plane, to fulfill a lifelong dream. I did not understand why I went through an hour of NPS training on the bears of Katmai. When the NPS Ranger led us out on the trail, we had to hide behind bushes within minutes of departure of the NPS HQ. I soon saw why. An enormous, mammoth beast lay sleeping on the beach entirely capable of wasting our pitiful tour group I am sure. We safely crept around a back way to another trail, a safe bridge, and viewing station stand. From there, we watched these enormous carnivores wade into the river and slash open the bellies of salmon after salmon. The sounds of their teeth and breath, writhing of their bodies in last autumnal hunger, was a sure sign that we were watching one of the last great king of beasts on earth - almost a mastodon in legend and lore.
After an entire day of viewing these awesome brown bears, it was entirely clear to me (from Texas), that one does not mess with them. They need the space that a Katmai can offer. It was clear that these were not toy bears with cute Disney names. It was clear to me that Katmai was indeed protecting them.
And it was clear to me that Timothy had gone South and taken his girlfriend with him. No electric fence, no spray? Was he daft? Yes, he probably was daft. We will never know exactly the complex dimensions of that daftity - egocentrism, anthropomorphism, suicidal impulses? The answer lies in the dead bear’s stomach. And the bear would never betray a quarry.
Timothy and his friend might have truly risen to the stars in teaching wise bear management, friendship at a distance, singing on a trail, and yes electric fences and spray. He ignored science and chose a Disney version of reality. He slept beside Bambi and Thumper, and Bear. But Bear ate him. He said he would be proud to be bear scat. But is he proud now? He had so much left to teach, from the right-brain side. And, he could have woven it into scientific, left-brain teachings (use your electric fence, spray).
Timothy was a trespasser on Bear’s land. The land of Katmai is devoted to those trophy specimens called Brown Bear. He trespassed on their trails and violated their spiderwebs with his pots and pans and tent. Katmai was set up to protect Brown Bear, not Timothy and girlfriend. They violated the covenant between the National Park Service and the brown bear - they overstepped the human limits, pretended the bear needed protection where it already well was protected, and defiantly laid a camp in the bear’s tracks.
I do not wish any human a death as violent as the chomping of bear teeth on one’s skull. And, the caching of one’s body for future forage. But, he violated and laws of nature, the laws of big bears, and the laws of the NPS.
The bears never made a camp in HIS camp, as he did theirs. The bears never really sidled up to him to make friends, as he did. Those brown bears have a vast need for space, it has been written, and he encroached on their territory in a habitat protected for them. And, two bears are dead because of his territorial violations.
I pray for Timothy and his companion, and pray for the 2 bears wasted in all this. If only Timothy were as smart as the bears, he might still be alive with his girlfriend.
I believe that Bearology, if you will, remains an art and science. Part logic, part intuition. Timothy lacked the logic it appears. Yet I wish that he Rest In Peace with his girlfriend.
I hope others out there can blaze a candid trail to resolve some of the mysteries of the great brown bear, but do so diligently with careful science and careful loving of this magnificent beast which shouldn’t be forced to choose between man and bear in a sacred land such as Katmai.
hey brown bear, good luck, the weather is lovely.
we’re all riding the same rock to the same destination anyway. i gave up on the “let’s save the world” attitude a long time ago. bears are beautiful and precious and so are all of the creatures that live with us - even our fellow humans, no matter how awful we can be to each other. hope you find a nice soft place to camp. you are probably in more danger than our man timothy.
There is a very good (and moving, at least to me) article on Treadwell in the current issue of “Vanity Fair”. Any of you who haven’t seen it may want to check it out.
Timothy Treadwell is good example of the foolish zealotry that can possess these nature-loving, tree-hugging fanatics. They lack the cranial synapses of common sense. Bears are wild, unpredictable, and dangerous. A person with half a brain doesn’t get perilously close to them, call them cutesy names, and insist he is a bear too. Well, he got his wish, didn’t he? To be one with the bears? To be bear scat? Unfortunately, he never got that wish because his deliverer never finished digestion before it was dispatched by rangers.
John and Eric’s posts were most thoughtful; but it’s time for Rob to realize his mindless drivel makes as much sense as pitching your tent in the middle of a freakin’ bear trail. He is a mental masturbater who should beat off in the woods - preferably near a hungry bear.
The only people on this board who know what they are talking about are the Alaskans. Live with these things for 20 years, then talk about why this moron died.
Hmm. How many people die at the hands of other people? And how many people die at the hands of a bear? Seems like I’m living life pretty dangerously in big city.
Treadwell’s journey was not about using common sense; it was not about courage. It was about an experience that most of you will never understand. Maybe, this was his reality. Maybe, it was his truth.
“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some that face reality; and then there are those who turn one into another.” -Douglas Everett
I agree with the article writer 100% and only wish this ole
ignorant hillbillie from Arkansas could express himself so well.
All these whackos on TV kissing snakes and pissing off
crocks have got a suprise coming as well. Why can’t these idiots
just leave the animals alone?
Couldn’t agree more with the article. All of these tree huggers think they know what is best for the wildlife, but they have yet to do any good for it. The real outdoorsmen (those that hunt and fish) know what is best for the wildlife. We are the ones spending quality time out there. We selectively harvest the animals and do our best to ensure that they remain here, instead of invading their domain constantly and annoying them to vengeance. It is too bad those bears were put down because of that idiot. We could use more animals like that to eat the rest of the morons that think they know what is best for something they’ve never even been around.
I was going to go into detail about what I think about this article by this “writer”.
But I’m not.
The man died doing what he loved. Right, wrong or indifferent, it was his choice. Have some respect and shut up.
Timothy Treadwell, may he rest in peace, and poor Amie Huguenard! For what they did, right or wrong, they are now away and gone, safe from the reach of all harm.
It is interesting, what you all have to say about him. The idea of being killed and eaten by a large wild animal gives rise to something primal within us, I guess. Perhaps that explains the passionate, emotional response from a few, and the underlying tone of fear in all.
In my mind’s eye, I can see the firelight flickering, the shadows dancing on the cave walls, as each one speaks in turn, making his opinion known to the tribe. There is much eye-rolling, cluck-clucking, and head shaking, maybe a bit of science, a bit of philosophy, but mostly eye-rolling and listening for twigs cracking in the dark.
Nothing has changed in a hundred thousand years.
Timothy seemed to be looking for form and meaning in his life, but most of all, I think, the depth and limit of his fear, as most of us do. He found unique self-expression, and did his best to share it with the world. He knew what was coming, I’ll bet. He wouldn’t have been satisfied otherwise. It seems clear that he got what he wanted “It is killing me. Get away”
Do I have tears for Timothy? I have tears for us all.
How easy it is to cast the first stone. Let’s look at what his death acomplished! A new captive audience who wants to help along with some great financial backing from some very wealthy generous people. The ignorant person who wrote this is just that, ignorant and antagonistic, anyone who would come to this site will most likely beg to differ with such cruel and stupid comments of a man who wanted nothing more but to expose a great creature and help protect it’s very existence. It’s too bad greedy selfish people just don’t get it I would love to meet this jackass just to see what stupidity looks like in person. remember, who was here first? why are humans the only creatures on earth who have to claim and destroy everything we touch, the only creatures who can’t be happy with enough? We must infiltrate and destroy everything little by little and ask questions later.
As easy as it is to cast the first stone, it is much easier to cast the last one. Hindsight is a very useful but unfair tool. You ignore the basic fact that Treadwell wasn’t protecting any bears’ very exixtence. He only worked with hightly protected and unthreatened bears. He was directly responsible for the death of two bears.
To answer your question about “who was here first,” it’s just about a toss up. True bears are a relatively new genus. Between 6-7 million years ago, there was a rapid radiation of the remaining members of the genus Ursus. Approximately 6 million years ago during the late Pliocene, the lineage containing the Asiatic black bear and the American black bear diverged. Within approximately 1 million years of this event, the Asiatic and American black bears diverged from each other. The sun bear diverged from the lineage approximately 5 million years ago from the lineage leading to the polar bear and the brown bear, which diverged approximately 300,000-400,000 years ago (Sacco 1997, Talbot & Shields 1996). It is generally agreed upon that the evolutionary origin of the brown bear is in Eurasia. However, there is not enough evidence to determine whether if it originated in Europe or Asia (Masuda, Aiurzaniin, Yoshida 1998).
Katmai was glaciated during the Plistocene. Although it is believed that remanant populations or archaic brown bears survived in the unglaciated peaks of the ABC islands or Alaska (these bears are genetically much closer to polar bears than other brown bears), there is no such evidence of such survivors in Katmai bears. Thus, the bears in Katmai got there about the same time that humans did by repopulating from Eurasia via Beringia.
I spent the last weekend cleaning up a 6′ thick layer of food, bear excrement and vomit off a friend’s cabin floor with a putty knife. Every inch of the cabin was wrecked by the bear who spent several days camped out in there. (He’s already heard the “Goldilocks’ Revenge” jokes) I would thus also disagree that humans are the only one’s who “claim and destroy everything we touch.â€
If anything, the emotion seems to be coming from the pro-Treadwell camp. This is understandable because the facts and research don’t support most of their statments (or Treadwell’s for that matter) so emotion is all that they have left. I’ve said it before, he took some really great bear pictures. He did generate some publicity - but most of it was personal. But that’s it. He didn’t save a bear, he didn’t protect any habitat, he didn’t thwart a single poacher. To try to elevate him to some sort of ursine saint is to buy into Treadwell’s own self-promotion without any critical analysis. I guess if Treadwell wanted to be martyred by those who are too ignorant to question his BS or have answers to their own questions, he succeeded.
Other than Mr. Treadwell’s foolish behavior (of which some was illegal) i am disturbed by his inherrent dishonesty in describing his work as research. I dont know about “bear feelings” and “getting to know them on a personal basis”. I do know they will eat you if they are hungry enough, kill you if they perceive you a threat to their young. Don’t every wake them from a long winters nap. These are “facts†and only an idiot would not consider them while conducting “research”
ak phil
Right now I am culminating a seven year study of the Florida black. This will result in a bear book in which I would like to include the results of this website. Thanking you in advance, C.T.
Fine by me, Charles. Just be sure to link to this blog entry if you can and be sure to include everything exactly as it appears here. I’d rather avoid selective editing that might misrepresent what’s been written.
Oh, and don’t get eaten…
I totally agree with you. Timothy Treadwell was a nut case, who really wanted to be an actor
(Woody Harelson beat him out for the part on “Cheers” and his own Father said he was never the same after that.)
So yes, I agree he definately was seeking media attention. One of the stories my sister read about him said he was out in the woods “finding himself” and on drugs the first time he ran face to face with a grizzly, and just knew this was his “calling”
Yup! The dude was WHACKED,The girl that got killed with him TRUSTED him as an EXPERT, and sadly it cost her LIFE.
One thing that WAS really odd though, He LUCKILY lived through his visits for 12 years, and the VERY FIRST TIME he took the woman- BAM!- they get eaten!
Wonder what it was about the girl? menustration? or did she show her fear and the bears sensed it?
The article my sister read said he was in no way even close to an expert, and that he survived that long was a miracle, AND that it just goes to show how tolerant bears really are, of people.
It also said that grizzly bears RARELY attack or eat people, and that when a helicopter was swooping down toward the bear to stop the attack, the bear(s) just ate FASTER…Those bears must have been P.O’d at him
i live in a town in nm that has bears around all summer dumpster diving or rather dumping.i would bet that sonner or later some fool here will be hurt out of stupity.wild animals have no consience they act on prey instinct.while our black bears are smaller they are some of the strongest animals alive and a person would be lucky to servive any
attack.i have hunted bears and know their speed and strength.to study an animal is one thing to try to be his bud is goofy.i saw the doc.about this fellow and said to myself at the time he had a death wish.
And now Irwin is dead, its so sad what is going on
sad one it is…a good guy was he? at least he passed away doing what he liked doing…being with the wild.
“Other than Mr. Treadwell’s foolish behavior (of which some was illegal)”
Yeah? Where was the flippin’ Park Service then? Got off scot free I’d say. Apparently they thought Tim was extraordinary and did not take the proper actions, therefor Tim thought he was extraordinary, therefor because no one did a damn thing about it…he was… extraordinary.
Funny you mentioned Steve Irwin. In the last 145 years only 17 people have been killed by stingrays. He was just too close and in the wrong position. I’ve been as close to a large stingray, but off to one side (it was swimming past me, and I was seriusly watching that tail, in addition to admiring the “flying” motion). Thanks for not romanticizing Treadwell. My feelings here are mostly for Amie.