This is not the individual that is the subject of the documentary.
Posted on 08/16/2005 11:59:06 AM PDT by ZULU
Opening today, the documentary Grizzly Man revisits the life and violent death of Timothy Treadwell, a controversial wildlife activist who spent 13 summers living among bears in the Alaskan wilderness.
Treadwell was discovered dead and partially eaten by one of his beloved grizzlies at his campsite in Katmai National Park in the fall of 2003. His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, was also killed.
Using Treadwell's own dramatic video footage, the film tells the story of a controversial figure who put a history of drug and alcohol abuse behind him to devote his life to grizzlies. It was an obsession that cost Treadwell his life.
In the Werner Herzog-directed documentary, Treadwell is shown singing and reading poetry to grizzlies, calling them names like Mr. Chocolate, and even petting one on the nose.
Experts say Treadwell was an example of how not to behave around these animals.
Chuck Bartlebaugh, executive director of the Center for Wildlife Information, based in Missoula, Montana, describes Treadwell, a self-styled "kind warrior," as "irresponsible." Though he had a "great heart" and a "loving personality," Bartlebaugh said, Treadwell never should have done what he did.
Bartlebaugh, who advised Treadwell on his conduct around wild bears, said, "Tim agreed with us and the superintendent of Katmai National Park to no longer approach, stress, or harass the bears. But he misled [us]."
Bartlebaugh says Treadwell's decision to ignore this advice was influenced by his aim to become known as a "bear whisperer."
Treadwell clearly believed he had a special bond with the animals. In a letter to one of his sponsors in 2003 he wrote: "My transformation complete—a fully accepted wild animal—brother to these bears."
Killer Bear
Weeks later he was killed, and by one of the bears he so adored. "The Park Service knew and had monitored the bear, and Tim knew it too," Bartlebaugh said.
Treadwell claimed to have identified 21 vocalizations and body languages in grizzlies. If that's the case, says Bartlebaugh, the one he didn't recognize was the most important: "It was the one that says, Leave me alone."
Katmai park rangers shot the thousand-pound (450-kilogram) male responsible for Treadwell and Huguenard's deaths after their bodies were found. A second, younger bear was also killed when it became aggressive.
Bear biologist Lance Craighead says the deaths of Treadwell and his girlfriend created a lot of bad publicity for bears. But, he says, the New York-born Treadwell also inspired people with his message that grizzly bears should be protected and preserved.
"Treadwell did more good than harm," said Craighead, director of the Craighead Environmental Research Institute in Bozeman, Montana. "He sure reached a lot of schoolchildren—he spent most of his winters talking to schoolkids about bears."
Treadwell "pushed the envelope" when it came to taking risks, Craighead said, which may have encouraged others to do the same.
"I think he was trying to make the bears habituated to him so that they knew him personally," the biologist added. "People have done that with a lot of animals, such as gorillas and chimpanzees. It works, up to a point. But there's always likely to be a 'bad bear' that you might just run into."
Treadwell "must have had thousands of bear encounters. Finally he had one which went wrong," he said.
Craighead says he has managed to avoid hairy moments of his own during fieldwork in grizzly country.
"I don't get close enough to touch them, for one thing," he said. "I also carry bear spray [generally a pepper-based repellent] with me. I think it would have been a good thing if [Treadwell] had had it in his tent, even if he didn't want to carry it around."
Bear Maulings
Treadwell isn't alone in getting too close to grizzlies.
The Center for Wildlife Information reports increased incidences of grizzly bear maulings due to human misadventure. U.S and Canadian national parks such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Jasper, and Banff have been forced to hire extra rangers to keep bear-friendly visitors back.
In Yellowstone National Park visitors are asked to stay at least a hundred yards (90 meters) from bears.
Parkgoers are warned that if they get within a bear's "individual distance," the bear might charge. And the animals are powerful enough to kill with a single blow.
"Two years ago we counted 200 people standing within five feet [one and a half meters] of grizzly bears in Yellowstone," Bartlebaugh, of the Center for Wildlife Information, said. "Those bears are now dead."
Some had to be culled because they became too aggressive after having been habituated to humans, some of whom fed the bears, he said. Others were hit by cars or shot by hunters who found themselves threatened.
"If people had not habituated those bears, they would still be around, helping the recovery of the population," Bartlebaugh added.
"We as humans have to be diligent about being around these beautiful animals. You don't move away because the bear is going to kill you. You move away because you want the bear to be wild."
Too bad. They're interferring with "natural selection" in not allowing the "Darwin Award" to be delivered to mushy-brained tree-huggers.
Me, I wouldn't get within 50 yards of a grizz - that's the distance I'm dead-on with my rifle.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
The more we're educated about wild animals by the enviro-whackos the more stupid we act when in the presence of wild animals. What's wrong with this picture?
Could it be, hmmm, because it was a bear?
I think at the end he was probably a "bear screamer."
This is not the individual that is the subject of the documentary.
Bartlebaugh says Treadwell's decision to ignore this advice was influenced by his aim to become known as a "bear whisperer."
I think at the end he was probably a "bear screamer."
And finally "bear scat"!
In a letter to one of his sponsors in 2003 he wrote: "My transformation complete—a fully accepted wild animal—brother to these bears."
Somehow, I find these two statements to be a bit self-contradictory.
I am not a big nature lover but it pisses me off when they shoot these animals after delta hotels like this get killed because of their own stupidity. The animal is only doing what comes natural. Do they feel because it killed a human, it is suddenly going to rampage on the nearest town? Did some sort of reverse vampirism occur where the animal is now infected and can't get enough of that human taste?
"This is not the individual that is the subject of the documentary."
But COULD be.
In this situation, I tend to agree with you. They serve an evolutionary function - eliminating stupid genes from the U.S. population.
Maybe we need more bears.
[sniff]
I love happy endings.
Duhhh.. Here comes a Grizzly.. Hold my Bacon Sammich while I go make freinds..
In a way. Once a bear, or big cat or canine, has killed a human, they tend to lose that natural fear of man that most wild animals have.
Since they have no, or reduced, fear of man, they will likely move further and further into man's territory. A non-fatal contact in the wild does not seem to have near the intensity of this loss of fear that a fatal incident has. As a result, it is prudent to put down a "man killer" to prevent another probable attack in the future.
We seriously need a topic catagory called "MoreOnNews"
Any advice on a bear gun?
I'm thinking Browning BAR .338 Win Mag. Anything better to get of a few shots before being mauled?
I read his story in Reader's Digest a few months back. The guy was a kook.
I wonder if that is where they got this picture:
We've already got the "Hold my Beer" category.. That covers it pretty well..
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