"In a filmed scene of Timothy singing to a mother bear, flat on her back, with two cubs nursing on top of her, you imagined for a moment that she too enjoyed the song of gentleness. And you had no doubt that you were hearing a 'bear whisperer.'"
-Louisa Wilcox, close friend of Timothy Treadwell
Timothy Treadwell is best-known as a man who lived among bears. "Grizzly Man" as the documentary of his life claims. Many assumed him mentally insane, others saw him simply as strange. A controversial character, Timothy is rarely remembered for what he lived for, for what he died for; the safety and education of brown bears in Alaska.
For thirteen summers, Tim traveled to Katmai National Park in Alaska where he lived among the grizzlies. He called this place the "Grizzly Maze". He studied the bears intensely, often getting dangerously close to them. He gave each bear he met a unique name and often personified them. During these summer months, he would film himself with the bears, and has captured some of the best footage of grizzlies ever filmed. Timothy Treadwell never carried a firearm on him, never wanting to harm a bear even in the worst situation.
It is a common misconception that Timothy did not understand the danger he put himself in while living among the bears. He was not friends with all bears. He became wary of a bear he called "Demon", and was quoted saying "someone could die out here". He was very aware of his situation and despite not having a formal degree, Timothy had a vast knowledge of grizzlies. He understood that bears rarely attack, but they do, in fact attack, and when they do it is most often fatal. But his bond with the bears, he felt, was worth the risk.
A troubled young man, Timothy found peace and sobriety through nature and bears. He replaced his love of alcohol and drugs with a love of grizzlies and conserving their land. Timothy protected his bears and became territorial of them. In one scene in the movie "Grizzly Man", a documentary of Treadwell's life, Tim filmed visitors of the park throwing rocks at the bears. This angers Timothy bringing him close to tears. Although this may seem odd to many, his passion for protecting his beloved bears is admirable. He was able to recover from his drug problems simply by knowing that he could not be with the bears in an intoxicated state.
Timothy was so passionate about his work with the bears that he left his old life behind and dedicated himself to educating others. He often gave lectures to children in local schools, free of charge. His close friends describe him as one of the most poverty-ridden men they knew. He gave up his life, in more than one sense, for these grizzly bears.
"I will die for these animals. I will die for these animals. I will die for these animals."
Unfortunately, on October 5-6, 2003 Timothy and his girlfriend Amie were mauled to death on their last night in the Grizzly Maze. The only footage of the attack is an audio tape from Tim's camera; the lens cap left on. Due to the video being only audio, there are only speculations as to exactly what had happened that unfortunate night. Many guess that the vicious attack was brought on by a ravaged bear, desperate for food. Jewel Palovak, Timothy's best friend and a former girlfriend, owns most of Timothy's possessions, including the audio tape of his death. She has not made the tape public nor has she listened to it herself. No plans have been made to ever release the tape.
Although his body has left, his legacy and spirit live on in his foundation, Grizzly People, which is dedicated to protecting the bears and the land they claim.
Sources:
Katmai National Park
Grizzly People Tribute to Timothy Treadwell
Grizzly Man, 2005
7 comments:
The only people that think Timothy Treadwell is a "hero" are those who know absolutely nothing about living in Alaska or dealing with Alaska bears.
It was Treadwell's irresponsible behavior that, in the end, not only got him and his girlfriend killed but two other bears. They had become so acclimated to his presence that they were no longer afraid of humans and posed a serious danger to those who were trying to see if one of the humans might still be alive and hurt.
Way to go on your "hero" selection here.
I chose Timothy due to the fact that he was passionate enough about something to go after it, despite it's dangers. I did not do extensive research on this, I'll admit. But I don't feel as though my choice was a bad selection.
As stated in my introduction post, anyone can be a hero. Timothy was a hero to me, because I have yet to find something I have such a fire for. I never said he was a hero for acclimating himself to the bears. I mostly concentrated on his passion for what he was doing, NOT the actual act of living with the bears, although I do find it quite extraordinary that he was able to do it for 13 summers before anything tragic happened.
I saw Grizzly Man this week-end, followed by comments by his friends. Apparently, Tim was a hero to the bears themself since for the 13 summers he was there, no bears were armed. The summer following his death, 5 or 6 bears were found after poachers killed them.... I admire his dedication to protecting the bears and sharing his knowledge.
Too bad Louisa Wilcox wasn't with Treadwell when he made that last error in judgment.
But then , in Ms Wilcox's case, there are some things so foul that even a hungry grizzly won't scavenge them!
Timothy optimism is admirable. You might want to read an article at http://www.olvinabarca.info/en/component/content/article/47-psychology/77-timothy-treadwell-grizzly-man-and-the-optimistic-bias
To the person who posted about the 5 or 6 dead bears, I don't think it has been proven that bears were killed in Katmai after Treadwell died - just as he was never able to prove there were any poachers, even though he carried a camera everywhere for the 5 years before his death. Yeah, he had a passion for bears..but that doesn't mean he had any right to do what he was doing. He conned people into donating to his cause, painting himself as a "protector" of the bears in the one place on the planet where bears are the safest. In the long term, he caused more harm than good. He wanted to be special, he wanted to be something he was not, and risked his life to do so. It had more to do with his own ego than it did those bears.
Bears really want nothing to do with us, and the fact that he survived so long up there says a lot about what these animals will tolerate. But, eventually his luck ran out.
Timothy and Aimee, rest in peace. Grizzly man was an inspiring and moving story and tragic. That part of the world is probably one of the most beautiful and Timothy became a part of that world. I dont judge him for giving up drugs and crime and dedicating his life to the protection and preservation of the bears, they seemed to enjoy his company as he survived for a very long time out there amongst the wildlife without ever getting attacked.There are many things seen in that story that defy logic and prove that wild animals can accept humans living near them. I believe that the bears that new him, that he watched over returned the respect. We dont need more hunters and poachers we need more rangers and Timothy Treadwell's, more habitat for these creatures to live in the home they deserve.Timothy's goal seemed to be centred around preserving the bears, raising public awareness and the culling of bears, an endangered species. Tim and Aimee may be gone too soon but the legacy lives on in the lives of the Grizzlies and those that loved them.God bless you.
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