Bear Expert and Companion Killed in Bear Attack at Alaska Park ( New View on Old Story )

AP, via TBO.com ^ | Oct 7, 2003 | By Rachel D'oro

[greydog]

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 at their campsite when a pilot arrived who was supposed to 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, at the camp near Kaflia Bay.

Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear within minutes of arriving. Ranger Joel Ellis said two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.

"That was cutting it thin," said Ellis, the lead investigator. "I didn't take the time to count how many times it was hit."

The victims' remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to Kodiak. Ellis said investigators hope to glean some information from video and still cameras.

As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear approached and was killed by 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.

[Walkingfeather]

I remember seeing this idiot on some report somewhere and shaking my head. I will be the first to nominate him for the darwin.

[Eska]

When we were down mentasta, there was a half breed guy that had been raised native that lived on the lake. Pretty good guy and awesome with his old peep sights. The reds would spawn along the shoreline. Bears were forever in his yard. He once told me he killed his first bear at 14 with 30-30; said he had nightmares over it for years. He also had an immaculate 06 that he used of late. Bears really hammer the moose calves and he did what he could to help the moose out.

He also had a big old german shepard/wolf cross that just hated the bears. Whenever some bear wandered across his front yard, old pal would go about nuts. Now that dog couldn't kill a bear but the bear avoided him like the plague and would leave. That dog did more to keep those grizz away from that cabin than all the guns in the world.

[spodefly]

Dramatic reenactment

Sweet.

[BullDog108]

Since when are firearms legal in a national park? Color me sceptical about this story.

As a former NPS Ranger, I concur. Unless he was not in the National Park and in an adjacent National Forest.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

That same year Treadwell was a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman," describing Alaska brown bears as mostly harmless "party animals."

"See you at the party!"

[FixitGuy]

When will these jerks learn that they call 'em WILD ANIMALS for a reason.

Predators don't male good pets or friends.

Have crossed some humans off my list for the same reason.

[rmh47]

A former teacher of mine taught a landform geography class north of the arctic circle for graduate students. One morning, he woke up and saw a group of ravens circling over a rise some distance away. He took his 12 ga. w/slugs to investigate and found a grizzly burying a caribou in an alder thicket.

He goes back and tells his students to follow and see something they'll likely never see again. When they get to the rise, most of them want to go down and see the bear. One idiot actually has to be restrained. Unbelievably, the guy says the he is a vegetarian and the bear will sense that he means it no harm.

Did the teacher explain to the student that the caribou killed by the grizzly was a vegetarian too?

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

Thought you might be interested in the 'old' state.
I recall getting the sh_t scared out of me while fly-fishing. The bear was probably just annoyed since I was in his spot. Didn't feel like arguing. Not more than a mile outside of Anchorage. After that encounter, I paid a LOT more attention!

[WorkingClassFilth]

I would suppose that observation would have arisen, but I don't know for sure. One thing's certain - the caribou meant the Grizzly no harm either.

There is a streak in me that would have been sorely tempted to let that fool go. In that way, an entire class of numbskulls could have been divested of their green peace ideals in on fell swoop and at least one of their number would never have the chance to vote for another leftist imbecile. Of course, there's another streak in me that would have had to do something once the festivities with Yogi started, so I tend to live in a constant state of tension between my good and ying-yang thingies.

[Blood of Tyrants]

As far as I know, those .50 S&W jobs aren't available yet.

[Servant of the 9]

two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.

A scatter-gun and pea-shooter against a bear?

I don't know why a pistol was used.
The Govt. did a survey a few years ago of bear shootings at close range, to find the most effective "stopping rifle" to put down a charging bear at point blank range.
They found that a 12 ga. shotgun with original type Brenneke rifled slugs had been more effective than any rifle, so that is what they issued rangers for self defense.

So9

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Actually a 22 cal or 25 cal is best for bears. You can concel it from the rest of your group and pull it out if the bear charges. You then shoot the person right next to you right behind the knee and then run like hell. The bear will normally eat the slowest person in the group."

Sage advice.

[hopespringseternal]

As a former NPS Ranger, I concur. Unless he was not in the National Park and in an adjacent National Forest.

The main reason why I may never visit a National Park or live in an area frequented by large, protected-status predators.

Our ancestors killed off large predators for very, very good reasons. We are fools to be so cavalier about reintroducing them.

[WorkingClassFilth]

An ounce and a quarter of lead is difficult to disagree with.

[r9etb]

How do I get him to turn around??

"Hey, bear! Look out behind you!!!"

Sheesh -- gotta tell you danged greenhorns every little thing.....

[Ranxerox]

I suspect that their curiosity concerning these animals has been satisfied.

-Merriwether Lewis

Excerpt from Merriwether Lewis' (of Lewis and Clark fame) log book pertaining to the expedition's first encounter with Grizzlies. Indians had warned them about the bears they were going to encounter as they went west, but they were curious to see one for themselves.

The men were astounded by the number of shots required to bring the bears down. After three encounters where wounded bears pursued them across the plains and into the water, they decided they had seen enough Grizzlies close up.

[U S Army EOD]

I am wondering if you could shead some light on a disease that rabbits contracted while I was growing up in rual Georgia. It was a disease that we locally called RUBBER RABIES. It would come on them at night especially on dirt roads. Some think it may have been triggered by someone shinning a light on them which caused them to go into the attack mode. The little buggers would then sit right out in the middle of the road and start pawing the the ground fixing to charge. If you weren't fast enough, they would run right up to your pickup truck and BITE OFF YOUR TIRES. To counter this action we used to put one or two people in the back of the pickup armed with shotguns and rifles. Fortunately for us we were always able to gun down the savage rabbits before any harm befell our truck tires.

Have you ever heard of this horrible animal plague spawning on the west coast?

[OESY]

Tasteless to the end, he learned it was too late to reread the chapter of self-teaching about bears in the wild.

[ZULU]

The Indians referred to the grizzly as "the bear that walks like a man".

I wonder what they called Arctodus simus, the Short-Faced Bear or Bulldog Bear. Check that one out in your search engines! This critter lived in the late Pleistocene. It stood about six feet or so at the shoulder WHEN WALKING ON ALL FOURS. Although bigger than a Kodiak Brown Bear, it was built lightly with long legs for running. Its dentition indicated it was a total carnivore rathen than a omnivore. Found mainly in the western part of the U.S., Canada and Beringia, it may have been responsible for limiting human expansion into North America until its extinction.

Sounds like a walkinig nightmare compared to a grizzly.

[U S Army EOD]

Dogs are just great for everything. They are willing to protect you from almost anything. As I grew up I had a bunch of cats. I lost a few of these to stray dogs that would pack. After I got a few dogs of my own, I never lost anymore cats. The dogs that I had would protect my cats from other dogs. One or two of the cats would actually run to my dogs instead of climbing trees if anything got after them.