Bear Expert and Companion Killed in Bear Attack at Alaska Park ( New View on Old Story )

AP, via TBO.com ^ | Oct 7, 2003 | By Rachel D'oro

[greydog]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska's brown bears harmless was one of two people fatally mauled in a bear attack in the Katmai National Park and Preserve.

The bodies of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at their campsite when a pilot arrived who was supposed to take them to Kodiak, state troopers said Tuesday.

Treadwell, co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska," spent more than a dozen summers living alone with and videotaping Katmai bears. Information on Huguenard was not immediately available.

The Andrew Airways pilot contacted troopers in Kodiak and the National Park Service after he saw a brown bear, possibly on top of a body, at the camp near Kaflia Bay.

Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear within minutes of arriving. Ranger Joel Ellis said two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.

"That was cutting it thin," said Ellis, the lead investigator. "I didn't take the time to count how many times it was hit."

The victims' remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to Kodiak. Ellis said investigators hope to glean some information from video and still cameras.

As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear approached and was killed by rangers and troopers. The bear was younger, possibly a 3-year-old, according to Bruce Bartley of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The victims' bodies were flown to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy.

Dean Andrew, owner of Andrew Airways, said the pilot was too upset to comment. The company had been flying Treadwell to Katmai for 13 years and Huguenard for the last couple of years. Andrew said Treadwell was an experienced outdoorsman.

Treadwell was known for his confidence around bears. He often touched them, and gave them names. Once he was filmed crawling along the ground singing as he approached a sow and two cubs.

Over the years, Park Service officials, biologists and others expressed concern about his safety and the message he was sending.

"At best he's misguided," Deb Liggett, superintendent at Katmai, told the Anchorage Daily News in 2001. "At worst he's dangerous. If Timothy models unsafe behavior, that ultimately puts bears and other visitors at risk."

That same year Treadwell was a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman," describing Alaska brown bears as mostly harmless "party animals."

In his book, Treadwell said he decided to devote himself to saving grizzlies after a drug overdose, followed by several close calls with brown bears in early trips to Alaska. He said those experiences inspired him to give up drugs, study bears and establish a nonprofit bear-appreciation group, called Grizzly People.

Grizzly and brown bears are the same species, but "brown" is used to describe bears in coastal areas and "grizzly" for bears in the interior.

The deaths were the first known bear killings in the 4.7-million-acre park on the Alaska Peninsula.

[alisasny]

I remember seeing this idiot on some report somewhere and shaking my head. I will be the first to nominate him for the darwin.

My husband swears we saw him on a show a few weeks back and there was a baby cub abandoned from his family all alone starving to death. This dude was about 30 ft away watching.

Very tragic in that he loved his bears so much but his stupid actions got two of them killed.

SAD.

[djf]

LOL! I just meant, here were these dames about as unprepared as they could be. For cryin out loud, it wasn't Bloomingdales.

[U S Army EOD]

Please send me a map of where I can find cliff.

[Dead Dog]

Better yet, check out what the earth muffins wrote about his book on amazon.com. That's a solid case of I told you so.

[djf]

;-)

It was near Bridalveil Falls...

Of course, if I catch a nice steelhead and someone asks me where, I always tell them. Exactly where. Yup. I do. Truthfully.

[Revolting cat!]

According to the bear, Treadwell and Huguenard tasted "just like chicken!"

[U S Army EOD]

Not the fish you idiot, the women.

[djf]

Well, ya know what W.C. Fields said:

"There's only two things in the world that smell like fish.
And one of them is fish."

[U S Army EOD]

Well in that case, do you think that the bears may have thought Timmy was bringing them a salmon when he introduced his party animal buddies to his girl friend????

[djf]

Like I said, she might have been having her monthlies. I've heard women are not allowed to be fire watchers in the towers during their periods, guess there have been a few pretty nasty incidents. You know the dog attitude, either eat it or .... it.

[U S Army EOD]

Have you started drinking this early????

[djf]

??????

[Yeti]

...and somewhere, not too far off, is some manure with little bells embedded in it, smelling faintly of pepper...

[OESY]

Do you think Dems believe the sky is falling? They should.

[U S Army EOD]

The fish and the women comments!!!!!

[U S Army EOD]

Right, this is the first thing you check for in bear or mountain lion feces.

[wheelgunguru]

The biggest mag I can get for my .44 Desert Eagle is 10 rds

He might have used a Desert Eagle, then. I didn't know they offered a 10 round mag. The story says he shot 11 times, so that would be about right.

BTW, here in CA we can't own Desert Eagles unless we owned them before greyout davis passed the safety law. Again, our legislators know better than we what's good for us. The only exception is if we can find one somebody is selling on consignment.

I bought a couple hand guns on consignment that I'd been looking for. Had to wait a long time and cost a mint. Now they're so valuable I'm afraid to shoot them. Just oil them, periodically.

[freepersup]

I haven't been in the physical presence of a Ridgeback... their reputation is quite impressive and well deserved... lion hunters... the Irish Wolfhound is another breed similar in nature to the Ridgeback...

[Walkingfeather]

not as sad as other people listening to this idiot and put themselves in danger because of his false confidence. luckily he taught everyone the ultimate lesson in a real life retraction, hopefully people will learn.

[U S Army EOD]

If you have already pumped ten rounds into the bear and haven't slowed him enough to put another magazine in, you are in a heap of trouble.