Reprinted from an April 22, 2007 column in the Morgantown Dominion Post
This quote from a recent review of the film Grizzly Man says it all. "Watching the film Grizzly Man is like watching a car wreck–while the sights are disturbing, you often find yourself unable to look away."
The "sights" to which the reviewer refers is video footage of Timothy Treadwell sitting very close to and talking softly to wild grizzly bears in Alaska. For the general public who want to somehow connect with nature, it all seems quite romantic and adventurous. To anyone who knows anything about grizzlies, it is a recipe for disaster. A recipe for death.
Last year I watched this documentary on public television and found it extremely disturbing. Not because the footage of grizzlies was not interesting, but because Timothy Treadwell thought he was a "friend" to these bears, and the reality was that at the end of the film I knew he would be dead. There was no question in my mind that treating wild grizzly bears like you would a pet dog was foolish and I knew it could only end in his death.
Tim Treadwell was born in New York city, lived in California where he attempted acting, became addicted to alcohol, heroine, and cocaine, and finally started camping in Katmai National Park in Alaska and filming grizzlies. For thirteen years he would spend his summers in the park, and winters in California. His first book, Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska" was published in 1997. It sounds so romantic and exciting, but hidden beneath it all were problems.
Treadwell violated National Park Service rules fairly often. He was cited for at least six violations from 1994 to 2003. He guided tourists with no license. He camped in the same area longer that the five-day limit. He did not store food properly (he kept food in his tent). He refused to carry pepper spray (not a violation, just stupid).
The interesting thing is that when you watch the film you hear him continually talk about how he was "protecting" the bears. There is no bear hunting in the areas he camped. Poaching is almost non existent. How was he protecting the bears? In fact, he was actually habituating the bears to his presence, thus making them more dangerous to other humans who might come into that area. And, as you will read in a minute, he actually caused the death of bears.
Over the years he did develop a loyal, albeit small, following. Treadwell formed an organization called Grizzly People. If you go to that website you will see that it says never to get closer than 100 yards to a grizzly. Yet when you watch the documentary, he violated that principle all the time, even trying to touch cubs with their mother. Crazy. Not only did he invite disaster by getting close to sows with cubs, and older, nasty boars, but he put his tent right in the middle of major bear trails.
How he survived thirteen summers with this behavior was a miracle. One wonders why he did it? Several authors suggest that he was a failure in life, in relationships, in school, in acting, but apparently he felt that the bears gave his life meaning. A truly sad situation indeed.
In June of 2003 he set up an illegal, hidden tent in a major bear area, with trails all around him leading to the salmon on the river. He spent most of the summer there with his girl friend (Amie), until they were killed and eaten by a very old boar grizzly. When Timothy left the tent that fateful night, and encountered a grizzly, he called for Aime to video the encounter. It went bad, and the audio tape tells you exactly how terrible the death from a grizzly attack can be. After the bear kills Treadwell it turns and slowly kills Amie. You can hear it all on tape that is played during the documentary.
A day or two later, when a local pilot flew into the lake, he found a nasty bear in the area and saw no people. He knew something was wrong and called in Park Rangers. They had two very close encounters with aggressive grizzlies near the Treadwell tent. They had to kill those bears and in the old boar they later found human remains. The next day they returned to autopsy the second bear to look for human remains but it had been eaten by other bears.
I’m not sure there is any moral to this story except to state that large predators such as grizzly bears are not pets. Treadwell’s misguided adventure not only got him killed, but also his friend and at least two bears. As more and more development goes on in our world, we spend more time in and around wildlife habitat, habituating wild animals to our presence. It’s happening with grizzlies, black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, deer, elk, etc. When we start feeding them, getting too close too often, then problems will develop. Add someone such as Timothy Treadwell to that mix and a sad ending is predictable.
