WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Wildlife enthusiast Timothy Treadwell spent 13 successive summers living among grizzly bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park
A fearless wildlife enthusiast and his girlfriend spent their final moments crying out for help as a starving grizzly bear mauled them to death, leaving behind a horrific collection of remains and the “worst recording ever made”.
Timothy Treadwell, 46, was convinced he had developed a unique connection with Alaska’s most dangerous predators.
For 13 consecutive summers, he lived amongst grizzly bears in Katmai National Park, giving them names and engaging with them, despite constant warnings about the dangerous animals.
In October 2003, his conviction would claim both his life and that of his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard.
The couple had remained later than usual into the season, setting up their tent near Kaflia Bay as autumn approached and food grew scarce for the local wildlife, reports the Express.
They were awaiting a seaplane to transport them home when the horror unfolded.
Inside their tent while rain pounded down outside, the pair were making a meal. Apparently drawn by the smell of food, a grizzly bear came near.
Treadwell is thought to have pressed record on a videotape to capture the attack, though the audio it recorded was considered too harrowing to ever be made public.
Alaska state troopers who listened to the tape said Treadwell could be heard shouting, “get out of here, I’m getting killed.”
His terrified girlfriend pleaded with him to play dead, then begged him to fight back. Shortly afterwards, Amie herself came under attack.
“You can hear him screaming,” state trooper Chris Hill later stated. “She’s screaming, ‘Is the bear still there?’ He says something to the effect that he’s dying. We really didn’t hear the bear at all.”
The recording was later described as so distressing that acclaimed director Werner Herzog, who featured Treadwell’s footage in his widely praised 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, refused to use a single second of it.
“You must never listen to this,” Herzog told Treadwell’s former partner and close friend Jewel Palovak after hearing part of the tape. She ultimately destroyed it, smashing it with a hammer and cutting it up with a knife.
“It felt freeing,” she said. “Very freeing.”
When rangers finally arrived at the campsite the following day, they were met with a truly horrific scene. The pair’s tents had been torn to shreds, with shoes still sitting by the entrance.
Nearby lay a mound of mud, grass and human limbs.
Investigators discovered what remained of Treadwell’s head, still attached to his spine, alongside several severed limbs.
Four bin bags of human remains were subsequently recovered from the stomach of a 28-year-old male grizzly weighing close to 1,000lb.
The bear, elderly and struggling to feed due to broken teeth, was shot dead after charging at officers.
Investigators concluded that Treadwell’s habitual practice of pitching camp in prime feeding grounds and allowing bears to come within touching distance most likely played a significant role in the fatal mauling.
Palovak, who co-founded the grassroots organisation Grizzly People alongside Treadwell, said “He didn’t have a death wish. He wasn’t stupid. He knew the dangers. He didn’t want to die.”
A former drug addict, Treadwell attributed his turnaround in life to the bears, crediting them with steering him towards sobriety.
He was completely dedicated to living amongst the animals, carefully recording their behaviour, speaking to schoolchildren about the remarkable creatures and seeing himself as a guardian of the bears he wholeheartedly believed were under threat from hunters and humans.
“His goal was to show people the secret life of grizzly bears,” Palovak said, “to inspire children to fight for what they believe in, no matter how big the challenge.
“He always told me, ‘If I die, make a kick-ass movie.’ I was like, ‘Oh sure, I’ll do that’.
“But that’s actually what ended up happening … I think [ Grizzly Man ] would have been the kick-ass movie that he wanted.”
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