Jim Lynch: Technology Analyst and C.M.

Continued From Page 2

The tendency to treat animals as if they are humans is demeaning and dangerous to both species. It has the potential to condition foolish human beings to risk their lives and the lives of others in futile attempts at being accepted into “animal society” and it takes away from the natural respect due to all large predatory animals.

Wild bears are not humans with fur. They will never “know” us nor will they ever “like” us. They are not created for that and they do not have the capacity to learn to be civilized or to interact on the level of a human being. We can and should admire them but only from a respectful distance. We should never intrude into their physical space. If we do so, we do so at our peril and also at theirs.

It’s utterly absurd that I even had to write those last few sentences but there are people out there who can’t seem to accept the reality of wild predators. And reality is the key word here, folks. Some of us just don’t seem to live in it sometimes. Timothy Treadwell was a man who tried to ignore the reality of what wild bears are and that decision ultimately cost him and his girlfriend their lives.

As more details of the attack are released via an audiotape that was recovered from the camp site, we see that Treadwell finally and horribly came face to face with the reality of what a wild bear is. Let’s just hope that his fellow TV adventurers and the general public learn something from these needless deaths. The irony here is that Treadwell’s foolishness didn’t just cost his own life; it also cost the lives of two of the bears he claimed to love.

Edit: Be sure to see Humberto Fontova’s excellent article about Treadwell, as well as Doug Peacock’s take on Treadwell’s folly. Kevin Sanders’ Night of the Grizzly is also worth reading and is an interesting examination of Treadwell’s death. Also, see the thread at the High Road too.

Edit 2: Note that I had to recreate this entry from an archive as my original blog is no longer active. I’ve pasted in each of the comments exactly as they appeared originally but they all have the same time stamp as it’s far too tedious to go back and edit each of the time stamps individually. Please feel free to add to the comments already included here.

Edit 3: Well, Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray. So that’s two down, I wonder who will be the next of these guys to get killed by getting too close to wild animals? Too bad about Irwin as he was at least entertaining to watch on TV. Hopefully some people will learn from his death to keep a respectful distance from wild animals.

Edit 4: If you wish to post a comment about this article please do it in the comments area on page 1 of this article. Thanks.

Edit 4: Also, see this page on another site for many more comments about Treadwell.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...