Timothy Treadwell only went to Alaska’s Katmai National Park for the summer. He left the park before winter, when bears run out of food and hibernate. That was also the case in the summer of 2003 – Timothy and his girlfriend Amie Huguenardová left Alaska on September 26. But three days later they returned for another week of observation. The weather forecast promised rain, which should bring more fish and increase bear concentrations.
Forty-six-year-old Treadwell was not afraid of giant grizzlies. He considered the over half-ton creatures to be his soul mates and himself as one of them. He knew them, sang to them and talked to them. He devoted years of his life to the bears and was convinced that he had a special bond with them.
Tragedy struck on October 5, 2003, just one day before the scheduled departure.
Treadwell’s video camera, turned on but with the cap on, captured six minutes of audio of the bear attack – a recording that gives chills.
An ordinary boy who loved animals
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Treadwell was born Timothy Dexter in 1957 on Long Island, New York, the third of five children in a middle-class family. According to acquaintances, he was an ordinary boy who liked animals. He was a star on the swim team in high school and earned a scholarship to college as a diver.
But there, according to the parents, everything broke. “I think that’s where he started drinking and hanging out with bad people,” recalls his mother, Carol Dexter.
In his 20s, he went to California, changed his last name to Treadwell, and tried to break through as an actor. Success did not come – according to his father, he came second in an audition for a popular series Cheersright behind later Hollywood star Woody Harrelson. “It took a toll on him,” recalls Val Dexter.
When he turned 30, he was still frustrated. On a whim, he got on a motorcycle and set off for Alaska – a place where he began spending every summer among grizzlies, filming them at close range, giving them names like “Fat Man” or “Long Man” and claiming to understand them better than anyone else.
Between bears without any protection
His mission to protect bears began in the late 1980s, after a near-fatal heroin overdose. In his book Among Grizzlies, he described the first close-up encounter with a bear as “looking into a mirror.” This moment changed his life – he stopped drinking and using drugs and a lifelong passion for grizzlies was born.
Treadwell fit the role of their protector, claiming to protect the bears from poachers and human greed. He soon gained wider media attention: in 1999 he produced and appeared in the show The Grizzly Diaries for the Discovery Channel, in 2001 he was a guest on David Letterman‘s talk show and traveled the US to educate school children about bears.
He founded the Grizzly People organization and filmed dozens of hours of close-up footage – today considered exceptional by experts but extremely risky. Treadwell repeatedly broke park rules and walked among bears without any protection, not even wearing bear spray.
Tragedy the day before departure
In the summer of 2003, he and his partner spent time in the Kaflia Bay area. They planned to leave before October, when the bears begin to hibernate. They originally left the area on September 26, but decided to return a few days later for another week of observations. Treadwell was still longing for one last meeting with his favorite teddy bear.
However, the animals were more aggressive than usual due to the approaching winter and the lack of food. There were also strange bears coming into the area that weren’t used to Treadwell’s presence.
What exactly Treadwell was doing on the fateful night is unclear. According to the investigators, he played back his footage in the evening, according to others, he just went to the toilet. However, when he came out of the tent, he ran right into the bear.
A record that gives chills
Treadwell’s last words were caught on camera. However, the six-minute recording was never released to the public. It was kept by his friend and ex-girlfriend Jewel Palovakova for years, and it still remains under lock and key in a safe.
However, the content of the recording has already been described by police officer Chris Hill. “You hear them screaming. She’s yelling, ‘Is that bear still here? Pretend you’re dead!’ He advises her to beat the bear with a pan. Then he says something to the effect of dying. You can’t hear the bear itself,” he described.
The first scene of the tragedy was spotted by the pilot who was supposed to pick up the couple. He found the camp deserted, but saw a bear standing over the bodies. Two animals had to be shot by park rangers because they were aggressive. The coroner discovered human remains in the bowels of one of them.
Film, criticism and reference
In 2005, German film director Werner Herzog released a documentary Grizzly Manwhich features Treadwell’s own footage and charts his life among the bears. The film showed bears in everyday, intimate situations and brought their beauty and behavior closer.
On the other hand, critics point to risky behavior and debate Treadwell’s actual contribution to conservation. “His mission was unsuccessful, he was trying to protect specific bears and in the process caused the death of at least two of them,” says biologist Wesley Larson.
Tom Smith of the Alaska Science Center adds, “He violated all park rules regarding keeping away from bears, harassing wildlife and interfering with natural processes. He was repeatedly warned. It’s a tragic event, but it’s not unforeseeable.”
Zdroje: People, ABC News, Factual America
