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."
Ruger now makes a short-barrelled revolver in .454 Casull or .480 Ruger called the "Alaskan". I would imagine it would be a good defensive piece for use against bears.
I stumbled across something on tv about this guy last week. He was camped in thick brush and grass at the time the bear attacked. The killer bear was about 20 years old, and probably went hunting for the easiest prey he could catch at his age. Among the items found at the campsite was a video camera. The camera was running during the attack, but the lens cap had not been removed (supposedly), so only the audio of the attack was preserved. Probably the biggest lesson from this guys life is that no matter how close you can get to wild animals, sooner or later one will turn on you, with deadly results. Most of the bears were probably used to him enough to leave him alone, even when he got too close, but one old, hungry bear that couldn't catch anything else still got him without warning.
Black bears are omnivores - from the word "omnis" in Latin which means "everything".
Black bears eat anything edible - vegetation, fishm meat, carrion, insects, honey, people.
Most of the bears were probably used to him enough to leave him alone,.."
They thought he was crazy = poisoned meat.
Some wild animals are not harmfull. Others, like bears and mountain lions are very dangerous. Some, like wolves and coyotes, are somewhere in the middle.
I know, I told the poster that they should smear on bacon grease, don a pork chop necklace and hike around Yosemite Park looking for Vegan Black Bears.
If I remember correctly, when the Rangers came to investigate what happened, the bear charged them. At that point they had little choice.
I spend a lot of time riding horseback in an area with a high population of black bears, and I've seen two, the latest a sow with cubs, while up there.
I like the attitude of that quote above. Here, the bear are hunted, so it's not as dangerous as park bear situations where they're never pursued, but still, there are more recreational riders and hikers up there than there are hunters, and with the amount of cover available, any bear that will allow himself to be seen is on the verge of becoming a dangerous bear.
They certainly are mostly vegetarian, technically omnivores because they will eat carrion, garbage and anything else they find. They are more scavenger than predator. They definitely are less dangerous than say a Grisly or Brown bear who are primary predators.
I understand that.
Thats good news.
But what about the 10% of the time?
A lead slug big enough in the right spot is effective 100% of the time.
Then they had to do a necropsy on the bear and found body parts in the stomach, gee I wonder why.
"Though he had a "great heart"
Yup. And I'm sure the griz that ate him thought it was particularly tasty too.
Thankyouthankyouthankyou. I'll be here all week...
Grizzly Bear met Timmy Treadwell...Timmy thought that they could be friends
But if you know about grizzlies...they are pranksters to the end
Grizzly Bear was getting hungry...the meat market's far away
So all day long he sized up Timmy...it would not be Timmy's day
Grizzly Bear ate Timmy Treadwell...man, I bet that had hurt
Grizzlies don't go on a diet...girlfriend Amie was dessert
Here's a tale that has a lesson...if you play with Grizzlies for fun
If you want to go on breathing...you had better have a gun
I won't say that Tim was stupid...but he did not have a clue
Still, I would say that he's much smarter...than those who post at DU
Grizzly Bear ate Timmy Treadwell...man, I bet that had hurt
Grizzlies don't go on a diet...girlfriend Amie was dessert
Girlfriend Amie was dessert
personally, i'd go for a large bore double. .375 h&h or a .416 rigby ought to do it.
i say a double for the simple reason that the gun is simple and is it's own back up. there's 2 barrels, triggers and firing pins. anything goes wrong, you still got another. also, you can get off two shots quicker in a double than in anything else or you can fire both at the same time.
2d choice would be anything magnum in an enfield action.
That's really good. Sad but good.
"This is not the individual that is the subject of the documentary."
No, this is another moron.
One tourist asked, "How do you identify bear droppings?"
"Oh that's easy," the guide explained, "its the ones with all the tiny bells in them!"
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