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

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.

Apparently, little Timmy has been cause for concern at the NPS for some time:

Katmai bear lover gets alarmingly close

Officials worry that man is promoting bruins as tame

By Elizabeth Manning / Anchorage Daily News

There was no mistaking Timothy Treadwell on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' last Tuesday night (Feb. 20, 2001 and on re-runs).

He was the guy in the blue suit who looked like a shaggy-blond rock star and told viewers that the brown bears he lives with in Alaska are mainly harmless ''party animals'' out to have a good time.

When Letterman asked whether the bears might someday kill him, Treadwell said he feels safer living among Alaska's grizzlies than jogging through Central Park in New York City. Besides, he said, a fox yips a warning when bears come near his tent.

Treadwell, a self-taught bear expert from Malibu, Calif., has spent each of the past 12 summers living solo among Alaska's bears, mainly in Katmai National Park. He has given them names -- like Booble and Aunt Melissa -- and he's made it his mission, and living, to videotape bears close up and share his experiences. In the process, he has become one of Alaska's most controversial summer guests.

Despite misgivings, National Park Service officials have tolerated Treadwell, saying he has the potential to reach millions of people with his stunning footage of bears and his goofy though engaging television personality. But increasingly, park officials, bear biologists and other people have become concerned.

''At best he's misguided,'' said Deb Liggett, superintendent at Katmai and Lake Clark national parks. ''At worst he's dangerous. If Timothy models unsafe behavior, that ultimately puts bears and other visitors at risk.''

She worries that Treadwell might someday get mauled or killed by a bear. The park would have a tragedy on its hands and would probably have to destroy the bear.

Beyond that, Liggett and other officials worry that Treadwell is spreading the wrong message. During past television appearances, Treadwell has been shown so close to bears that he could touch them. He has been filmed crawling on his hands and knees singing as he approached a sow and two cubs. Another time, he chased a bear away from his camp with a stick.

''He tries to act like a bear,'' said Mark Wagner, chief of interpretation for Katmai and Lake Clark national parks. ''He thinks he's a bear. He lays down in their sleeping holes. I think that's a pretty scary message to give to the public. He's trying to make bears like a friend or pet instead of a wild animal.

''Is that how we want people looking at wildlife in a national park, like a dog or something?''

Treadwell did not return phone calls Friday and has refused many past interview requests. Likening himself to the late Southwestern writer Edward Abbey, Treadwell refuses to name the places where he works so they don't become overrun.

''I'm working for the bear,'' Treadwell said last summer in a brief phone interview. ''I just want to continue living with the animals. I'm documenting amazing things and looking out for a particular group of bears. If I screw up, the very bears I'm in love with will be killed.''

In his book ''Among Grizzlies,'' Treadwell says he was compelled to devote his life to saving grizzlies after nearly dying of a drug overdose and then experiencing several close scrapes with brown bears during his early trips to Alaska. Once, he said, he fell into a fetal position when a bear ran toward him. The bear just stepped over him, scraping its belly on his shoulder.

He says those experiences led him to quit drugs, study bears and start a nonprofit organization, called Grizzly People, that seeks to increase people's appreciation of bears.

Joel Bennett, Alaska director of Defenders of Wildlife, said Treadwell is effective at what he does. He described him as a ''bona fide naturalist'' and as someone who connects well with schoolchildren.

''He can take a segment of the classroom that couldn't care a whiff about bears, and he'll have them in the palm of his hand by the end of his talk,'' Bennett said.

Because of the educational work he does and his appearances on talk shows with Letterman and Rosie O'Donnell, Liggett said, the Park Service has chosen to work with Treadwell to tailor his messages rather than cite him or try to shut him out of the park.

Chuck Bartlebaugh, executive director of the Center for Wildlife Information in Montana, is also working with Treadwell so he'll give people sound advice for behavior around bears. He said this latest appearance with Letterman showed considerable improvement over past episodes because Treadwell didn't talk about getting close to bears and advised people not to feed them.

Tour guides who take visitors to the bays along the Alaska Peninsula where Treadwell lives each summer said their clients find him entertaining and well-informed.

''He gets to know the bears by name,'' said Dean Andrew of Andrew Airways in Kodiak. ''I've watched him talk to those bears. It's almost like they are big dogs. And I've seem them mind what he says, like a dog would mind you.''

Tom Smith, a bear biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, argues that Treadwell is contradicting the basic national park philosophy of leaving nature alone.

Smith said it appears Treadwell has habituated at least some bears to his presence. While that may be fairly easy to do among Katmai bears, accustomed to living in dense populations because of plentiful food, Smith worries that someone might try to duplicate Treadwell's behavior in places where grizzlies are more aggressive.

And as the bear-viewing industry grows in Alaska and as reality TV grows in popularity, some bear experts fear tourists might get the idea that bears aren't all that dangerous.

''I'm afraid it will be the next 'real TV' experience'' to try to get as close as possible to bears and put it on film, said Colleen Matt, regional refuge manager with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

''The worst part of it is that if somebody does get hurt, they will kill that bear,'' Smith said. ''What kind of tribute to the bear is that?''

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