Post by Bobcat on Oct 8, 2003 8:00:53 GMT -5
I heard this story this morning on Fox News and GonHuntin' e-mailed it to me. You may have seen this nut on the Discovery channel. For 13 or so years this guy has been getting up close and personal with brown bears in Alaska and telling everyone how "harmless" and "playfull" they are. Well.....this is what happens when people buy in to the "Disney View". I don't wish this on anyone, but this guy was asking for trouble and possibly putting others at risk. Nature is not "Bambi".......
Bear Attack Leaves Two Dead in Alaska
By RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press Writer
10-7-03
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 when a pilot
arrived who was supposed to pick them up and 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, in the camp near Kaflia Bay.
Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear
when they arrived at the campsite and killed it.
Investigators then found human remains buried by a bear in a
nearby brushy area.
The remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to
Kodiak.
As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear
approached and was killed by park 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.
Bear Attack Leaves Two Dead in Alaska
By RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press Writer
10-7-03
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 when a pilot
arrived who was supposed to pick them up and 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, in the camp near Kaflia Bay.
Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear
when they arrived at the campsite and killed it.
Investigators then found human remains buried by a bear in a
nearby brushy area.
The remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to
Kodiak.
As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear
approached and was killed by park 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.
