over the weekend I saw a great documentary called "Grizzly Man" about grizzly bear activist Timothy Treadwell.
Treadwell, found of "GRIZZLYPEOPLE.COM" a conservationsit group, lived with wild bears in Alaska for 13 summers. On the last day of the last summer, he was eaten by a bear.
I admire Treadwell's interest in saving the bears, but many people interviewed in the film found him to be foolish. Among them was an Alaskan native who said, in his culture, the space between bears and humans is respected, and he thinks it is invasive to "live with the bears".
Treadwell, during his time with the bears, actually touched them and played with him.
I'd beinterested to know tyour thoughts on the issue and if you've seen the movie, what you thin.
Grizzly people: http://www.grizzlypeople.com
Timothy treadwell: http://www.katmaibears.com/grizzlyattack.htm
Article about his death:http://www.adn.com/front/story/4110831p-4127072c.html
http://outside.away.com/outside/news/200401/200401_blood_brothers_1.html
I heard about that guy and the movie & how he was killed by a bear. I don't know what to think, I haven't seen the movie. I think it's cool to see documentaries about animals and what not - but I don't like seeing nature disrupted more that it already has been by humans. Like, I don't like zoos or circuses and never bring Lyric to them... but then it doesn't bother me too badly when people keep animals in captivity to help save them as a species... like Lyric and I watched one recently about pandas.
I don't like circuses, but I do agree with zoos. If the animals are well cared for, of course. I think it's good to take kids there to spark their interest in animals and provide and opprotunity to discuss why conservation is important, and it provides a realism that you can't get from a book or tv screen. It brings the animals out of the 2D realm that you can also find robots and fairy princesses, and puts them directly into a child's world.
I remember the first time I took Matt to the zoo when he was 2, he still talks about it. He knows all about manatees and what they eat, different things that hurt them, why they're endangered. And he'll tell you all about it.
As for living with the animals, I don't know. I don't like the idea, but I can't deny how much was learned by Jane Goodall and how she helped raise awareness.
he did not keep the animals in captivity. He lived with them, in thier natural habitat.
I know, I was just saying that... I don't know what exactly I think about hiim doing that.
My honest opinion?
A nutcase of the highest degree. He may have felt spiritually connected to the bears and felt they considered him one of their own- but animal society is brutal at best. Bears kill each other, mate unwilling females, and are predators at heart. Why strive to become part of that society?
It's all heartwarming that he worked to save their habitat, but pretending they are teddy bears IS NOT the way to do it. The public has to respect animals for what they are, not what we (or Disney) imagine them to be.
When stuff like this happens, it's a score for the Republicans and the logging industry. 'See! The bears are killing the people on their side, so why should we respect them?"
I raise tame, domesticted horses and THEY need to be respected for their strength, size and reflexes. They can hurt you very easily without meaning to. I can't imagine going out to play with an animal that is WILD and designed to KILL.
As I understand it, when he returned with his girlfriend and was killed, it was a different group of bears than the group of bears he had been observing. That having been said, there is absolutly no way that I would go out and attempt to bond with bears.
I saw the movie. it seemed very long but was a ok movie. He seemed to really believe he was saving the bears and from the movie it was pretty apparent that he would rather be with the bears dead or alive then with humans. In almost every clip in the movie he is saying 'i dont care if i die/get eaten' not nesicaraly with those words but in the movie it is very apparent that he wouldnt mind being consumed by a bear. I dont feel bad for him because honestly it seemed what he wanted.
I do feel bad for his girlfriend. from the movie there was the impression she didnt want to be there. and also from the movie he was attacked first and was telling her to run/leave but she wouldnt leave him. I think that is sad.
i haven't seen the movie. i think he was kind of asking for it. in a way it's a noble thing to do but on the other hand what do you expect?
I did not see the movie but heard an interview on NPR a couple months ago regarding Treadwell, his work and the subsequesnt movie. It sounded really interesting yet sad. I don't know how I feel about humans living with wild animals in this way, but from what I heard on the radio, he wasn't wasn't being overly invasive and did what he did because he felt it was important. I know it's not the same, but it makes me think of Dian Fossey and how she lived with the mountain gorillas. She was a scientist, whereas Treadwell was not, but still she studied the gorillas and interacted with them in order to bring about awareness of a truly misunderstood and endangered species. If anything, I guess Treadwell suceeded in bringing more attention to grizzlies and their importance in our world, despite their ferocious nature.
I just watched the discovery program of timothy treadwell, I have never heard of him until I watched this show, but while I was watching it all I was thinking was this is exactly how people act when the are on DOPE and then his father said that he smoked dope-----go figure.
Are you serious?
not being funny mate but it sounds like u have been on crack! wat has having a smoke got to do with living with bears? i watched the film last night it was sad to hear about his girl getting it she didnt look like she was happy being that close to the bears and rightly so, i think tim could have done more to preserve bears in a safer way, he was iresponsable and and he and his girl paid the ultimate price its v sad. in my opinion he wasnt sound in the head he showed exstreem mood swings and broke every rule about camping in the wilderness and should have been stopped , i am not knocking the guy he was obviously a v loving and cairing man, v sad
At GM, we don't accuse other mothers of being on crack, in a serious or joking way. Addiction is something serious, not to be taken lightly, and not to be spoken about derogatorily on this site.
Oh fuck yeah. Do you know of the partisian split between environmentalists and "natural resource developers" in this country? Let me share with you- my cousin is a lawyer for the state's oil drilling rights and also represents the State of AK Republican party.
Media blitz circuses like Tim reduce the credilibility of educated environmentalist ecologists.
i thought the movie was a really sad portrait about a guy with a lot of problems. he was clearly unwell, not necessarily just for trying to live with grizzly bears, but for all of the other scenes in the movie which showed him having serious problems. it makes me upset when people call the movie funny, because it wasn't. it was a very sad story about a very lonely man.
...."Bears kill each other, mate unwilling females, and are predators at heart."
...I see that on the news..except it's not always bears...