Bear "expert" killed in Katmai

From the Anchorage Daily News:

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<em>

"The bodies of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of

Malibu, Calif., were found near Kaflia Bay on Monday when a pilot with

Andrew Airways arrived to pick them up and take them to Kodiak, Alaska

State Troopers said. The park is on the Alaska Peninsula.

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Treadwell, co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in

Alaska," spent more than a dozen summers living alone with Katmai

bears, and videotaping them. Information on Huguenard was not

immediately available." </em>

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See <a

href="http://www.adn.com/front/story/4102002p-4119654c.html">

http://www.adn.com/front/story/4102002p-4119654c.html</a> for more details.

Like Roy Horn,Treadwell assumed he knew animal behavior completely.Any one that claims to fully understand this is wishfully thinking.

Michio Hoshino, the photographer and author, inter alia, of _Grizzly_ who was killed by a bear in Siberia a few years ago, lived just down the road from us (most summers we have carloads of Japanese visitors looking for his widow stop at our house, which is at a crossroads, to ask directions). It seems to be an occupational hazzard for those who think they understand bears. After several bear encounters on our part, my wife strongly supports 800mm lenses -- preferable with telextenders.

another two dead bears. :(

Rather than roll the dice on another drug overdose, Treadwell rolled the dice with bears instead. Neither activity shows his brain in a good light. I suppose we have to hope his addled activities do not affect the future of the park or the bears.

The most rapacious and savage predator on earth is man.

It's always interesting when people get too confident around animals, especially wild animals. Even pets like my super-tame African Grey, who I handfed as a baby, can and *will* revert back to their instinctive, wild nature when necessary.

 

I've been bitten visciously in the past and every single time it was because I did not understand the bird's body language. They gave me plenty of warning, which I now, after nearly 10 years of *living with* (not visiting once a year on vacation), am just starting to understand.

 

I also know of other parrot owners who have been bitten once and banished their bird to a cage for the rest of its 60-70 years. This breaks my heart and I want to scream about it, but the best I can do is try to help educate other parrot owners by sharing my experiences.

 

Remember, there are two dead men, and two dead bears. The men have paid their price. Maybe those experts who are calling the dead names and bringing into light how foolish these men may have been, can do something constructive by sharing their own expertise to help us learn from their experiences.

Kinda like the crocodile hunter being eaten by a crocodile. This undoes all the work he did to try and show how these animals are not viscious monsters. I do agree with the other posters that these are wild animals. We as humans with thought and reason are at fault here. The animals are just acting on instinct. We should not take a docil animal for granted, if he smells food or feels threatened its you who is going to pay the price.

I have to correct myself. I thought the article said "Arnie" and I assumed it was two "men." My eyes are getting old :)

How long before the next TV special where the experts chum the water and swim with the Great Whites?

"I would be honored to end up in bear scat." - Timothy Treadwell

 

Nobody has a true right to seek or directly put themselves in high risk of receiving that very dubious honor. A nature photographer's first responsibility is the respect and protection of nature itself.

Hey, let's ease up on Treadwell, he's dead. Maybe it was his fault and maybe it

wasn't. I did not know him or how he acted around bears but I know that we are

sometimes too quick to judge others actions without full disclosure. I have been

around bears alot and always respect their wildness but a rogue bear could in an

instant have had me for lunch. If this ever happens, please understand that I was

being cautious and probably just unlucky. I always measure the distance from a bear

in time. How long it would take the bear to get to me. Even with an 800mm lens, it

would be seconds!

 

I just finished "The Blue Bear" by Lynn Schooler about the authors relationship with

Michio Hoshino. A great book for all photographers to read expecially if you knew

Michio or ever photographed in Alaska.

 

Jim

From what I have read, Treadwell performed some rather dangerous and foolish feats. Roy Horn on the other hand, to my knowledge, has never been credited with any foolish acts wrt his tigers. From the articles that I have read, alot of people are not all that surprised about Treadwell's demise. On the other hand, people are quite shocked at the SUDDEN aggressiveness of Horn's white tiger. But hey, this is all based on what I have read in the news...

 

It's the same kind of shock that one would expect if Steve Irwin (crocodile hunter) was suddenly devoured by a croc. While he may sensationalize/overdramatize on his show (and most of that is by his narration), I've never seen him do anything but approach the animals with the utmost caution and respect.

Speaking of attacks, did you hear about the guy who got attacked by his "pet" tiger in his NYC apartment. He also had an alligator in the apartment. He supposedly got scared after the attack and fled to a Philadelphi hospital.

 

http://www.msnbc.com/news/976201.asp

I have encountered many bears in Yosemite... they are black bears and less agressive than brown bears (especially grizzly) Of all the bears, only two showed aggression: 1. mama protecting her cubs 2. bear in campgrounds that a guy threw rocks at... the bear was fine until then, just wanted food, but he pissed it off so much it chased him into his camper and tried to tear the door off. I love bears... and do not fear them, but I also don't get too close. This summer, my wife and I came across a young deer in a meadow, then we noticed a young bear standing up behind some brush... basically doing the same thing we were... watching the deer. It was my wife's first real world encounter... her relfex was to run. I told her the bear was far away and just calm down and enjoy the view. It bothers me that people are told to make noise and bang things to scare off bears... this is rediculous... causes people to panic and over-react. I guess they suggest this because most encounters are in a campground and they want to discourage the bears from stealing food, but out on the trails you are better to relax and slowly walk on by... moving in a direction that doesn't bring you closer. If you see cute little cubs, don't be temted to look closer... mama is always near, so leave the area (once again... slowly... don't panic!) Anyway, there is a fine line between admiring bears and trying to interact with them... that "expert" crossed way over that line.

Sorry, but I have more respect for Treadwell than for Siegfried and Boy. At least

Treadwell reacted with bears on their terms instead of trying to capture them and put

then on display. No wild (non-domesticated) animal belongs in a cage or on stage,

etc.. Or should be bred for such purpose.

 

The sad part is that the bears were killed. Our reaction to anything that might eat or

harm us is to kill it.

 

Being around bears is one of the greatest highs. Selfish, sure. But I would rather take

my chances around bears than most people. Bears are unpredictable, just like

people, they are individuals, just like people, some are good, and some bad, just like

people. But mostly, they don't want anything to do with people. Hmm, maybe they've

got something there?

 

Jim

Jeffrey, they tell you to make noise because a lot of the bear attacks occur when bears are surprised.

I saw some clips of this guy on TV tonight. He was crawling around on his hands & knees and getting almost within reach of the bears. I thought the guy was either way over confident, naive, or just a hotdog. It was just a matter of time before one of them nailed him. The really unfortunate thing is he dragged his girlfriend into the mess. I would never, ever put my family into danger like this.

 

 

Kent in SD

To me the most dangerous part of this type of life/work is that you

can lull yourself into thinking that the bears have accepted you as

one of them. We saw this a couple of years ago when Michio

Hoshino was dragged from his tent in the night by a bear, was

killed and partially eaten. He often talked about how he was one

with the bears and how the bears accepted him as just another

bear....an extremely dangerous way of relating to their world.

Obviously,after spending so many years in the presence of these

brown bears Treadwell's mind-set was much the same.

Deluding himself into the into believing a total acceptance by the

bears of him. Extremely dangerous mind-set to be lulled into.

These animals are wild, big and powerful they command

respect at all times.

 

In my opinion Treadwell, Hoshino, and all of the others who went

before them (and all of those who will undoubtedly follow in their

footsteps in the future) were living on borrowed time. Their

contributions to our further understanding of these magnificent

creatures is without question. Their work literally became their

lifes' work in that it cost them their life. I believe that their

mind-set concerning their presence among the bears

contributed in large part to their demise.

In being "one with bears" and understanding them so well, they overlooked

one important fact about the bear world: Big bears eat little bears. Maybe

they were more like bears than they (or we) realize.

 

Hank

He wanted to be one with the bears. Well he succeeded as scat.

 

I saw those specials with Treadwell and the brown bears a couple times and left with the thought he was a fool living on borrowed time. But because of the media exposure and notoriety, such gave meaning to his life which he thrived on. Thus whether or not he could have moved his life on to other things, he seemed to fancy himself as some kind of "bear man" that had such special rapport with the beasts that he was not in that much danger. Of course from a few reports I just read others argued that with him so he probably heard all the logic from others for not continuing. The fact that he brought his girl friend there shows the unbalanced folly of his attitude.

 

I have a question for those who go into areas with dangerous wild animals. How can one know how a bear is going to react if it has never met or known a human? Lets say a young adult male bear from some remote region which up to that time has been the big bad bear of its domain. A bear migrating to a new area which happens to have a human. Size wise the bear is not going to be impressed. Teeth certainly wouldn't scare a cub. And it looks tasty without having any hair or hide to get in the way.

 

In the early frontier days of our West some notorious grizzlies killed and ate quite a few men. It is only after a bear has learned men have guns or that observes other bears seems to fear men that they probably develop respect. -David

I'm not as worried about the bear that has never encountered a human. I'm worried

about the bear that had a bad experience with a human.

 

Most bears want nothing to do with humans and I don't believe it is because of

hunting. Humans are not bear food, and never have been. They would rather eat

salmon, berries, rodents, moose and elk calf, etc.. Of course, there are exceptions.

And those exceptions are often final.

 

True though, that spending time around bears one becomes a little more

comfortable. That can leave ones guard down. Personally, I am always a little

nervous around bears. I hope I always will be.

I agree with Jim... a bear that has never encountered people is better than one that has. They learn that people have food... they don't want to eat the people, just the food (once again, I'm talking about black bears that I'm familiar with) One exception would be a sick bear... confused and unpredictable. I don't understand why people assume that when they see a bear it will chase them down and attack them... that is our own hysteria and paranoia... years of TV and movies. Imagine that you are a bear, in your natural habitat and never seen a person before... then you calmly look over and notice this creature jumping up and down, banging things together and holding it's pack above it's head (to look larger) That would freak anyone out. I'm just saying that going into a panic is not going to help, so you might as well go on your way and enjoy the experience (if the bear is blocking your way... too close to the trail, detour and find a way around, or back-track and wait it out... the bear may move to a different location) Hey, I did have a potentially dangerous encounter with one bear... we were driving and a bear came running down a steep hill, crossed the road right in front of our car. Luckily, it didn't hesitate... like deer sometimes do, so we didn't hit it. This was actually the first time my wife had seen a bear (besides a zoo) but it doesn't really count because of the circumstances. After seeing the young bear on the trail (the one watching the deer) she now understands why I love them, and don't panic when I see one. Like I said, I don't try to interact with them, just observe and admire.

It's very sad that we lost two humans and two bears in his incident, to say nothing of the disruption for NPS personnel, Alaska State Troopers, etc...

 

At the same time, Katmai is fascinating place, and I'm very grateful that it exists to provide opportunities for humans to observe bears in their natural habitat. I spent a week there this summer, and found both the concessionaire and National Park Service personnel to be outstanding in their dedication to safely managing the situation. Unfortunately, there are risks, and sometimes a price for those who take them.<div></div>

Charles Russell is another bear guy who lives amongst the beasties.

 

He has made a name for himself with a book (ISBN: 1552634574) on the 'Spirit Bears' of northeastern B.C. and another book (ASIN: 0679311181) on the bears of Russia's Kamchatka peninsula as well as several other bear books & calenders.

 

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