Why the Grizzly Man Didn't Survive: Eaten Alive on Camera

Timothy Treadwell was a bear enthusiast. He believed that he'd developed a special bond with a group of Alaskan grizzly bears. Right up until the moment they ate him alive. It was the end of a routine expedition in October 2003 when his girlfriend Amy heard him screaming outside their tent.

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[tomsmith]

His mistake was thinking he was somehow special. He wasn't. He was just another meal. As soon as we get cocky and full of ourselves, common sense departs from us.

[GreaterGood]

Moral of the story:
Leave wild animals alone in their habitat.
Do not disturb them.

[ruththomas]

I'm born in Alaska and lived here my entire life. We have one word to describe bear behavior. Unpredictable. We never get cocky about our relationship with wild animals unless we want to die.

[slickwilly]

I've never understood people who insist on treating wild animals like this. Lions, tigers, bears, pythons. It's not a matter of "if" but "when".

[johnwright]

He had so many warnings by experts and rangers. They even banned him at one time. The thing he should be blamed for is putting his girl friend in mortal danger.

[marksmith]

Pisses me off when someone thinks they can befriend a wild animal. Person gets killed by wild animal and wild animal gets shot because of someone's dumb decision. One of the many reasons why wild animals should be left ALONE.

[DigiDiver]

The saddest part of this story is they killed two of the bears, just because they behaved as bears in their natural habitat.

[williamrippley]

As seen on a t shirt '' What doesn't kill you will make you stronger, except for bears, they will kill you.''

[McSwiggle]

Being mauled by a bear is one of my biggest fears even though I live nowhere near their natural habitat.

[ArchTeryx]

From what I've read the bears that did Treadwell and his wife in weren't actually the local bears, but migrants passing through. These bears had no familiarity with either of them, and they looked like food to bears that had been traveling a while - and were very, very hungry. He'd been warned to ditch the area *because* they knew the migration and storage season for hibernation got wound up during that time. If the migrants didn't get them the local bears sooner or later would. Once those bears decided they'd make a great bit of trail mix, they had absolutely zero chance.

The bears had to be killed, too. Once an animal like that learns that humans are edible, they will always start seeking us out as easy prey and in a park like that, that's an unacceptable risk. So Treadwell's stupidity not only killed himself and his wife, but the actual bears he claimed to love so much.

[Tremens]

Poor bears. They were just bears doing bear stuff, eating and preparing for winter. And got killed because they caught the wrong prey.
And poor Amy, the girlfriend. She trusted the wrong man.
So, 3 innocent victims because of 1 ego case.

[jumanaalomary]

For one person ignoring warning signs, not leaving the spot in October, not changing the tent spot every few days, camping right next to the salmon source, not having bear spray or gun on him, getting too close and personal with the bears is very unthoughtfull risky behavior, but for 2 people taking the same risk?! Why? Why she never questioned him? Why she never suggested at least a bear spray or to leave like everyone else?

[markob]

The ignorance and hubris of this man was unbelievable. No bear spray, ignoring warnings, thinking he's somehow the bear's friends, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Unreal. RIP to his girlfriend and the bears.

[lisanetgark]

They were eaten in October. The hunger increases right before hibernation. It’s best to leave prior to that increase in hunger. I work as an RN. I took care of a man who who had survived an attack from a grizzly. He balled himself up protecting his neck and abdomen. The wounds from the swipes of the grizzly paws were absolutely huge!

[valentinobambino]

As i kid I used to befriend dogs all the time. I thought I was literally a dog magnet but it turned out that I have never met a truly aggressive dog at the time.

[CBPERCY]

I was in Katmai during July 1990 and as soon as we stepped off the floatplane, rangers gave us the strict rules....then told us there was a guy getting too close to the bears. That turned out to be Treadwell on his first visit to that park. He was lucky he lasted 13 seasons.

[PeetHobby]

If a Grizzly bear doesn't attack you, it simply hasn't realized you're edible yet.

[jayarfa]

I did some research. The bears he befriended didn’t kill him. It was an older 28 years old bear who was in his last days. It had wandered in the area after it couldn’t hunt much.

[EliseDFENS]

If you think you have a bond with a wild animal you are wrong. There are some rare cases where they may pick you. But you never engage them. I would never. I respect Bears so much and I am terrified of them. I also think they are so beautiful. But I’ll admire them at a distance.

[AA-dbcb]

I feel worse for the bears that were taken down because of these two idiots