Blog 11- Timothy Treadwell

This documentary about Timothy Treadwell’s expeditions with grizzly bears was quite interesting. This man spent 13 summers living with grizzly bears. He dedicated his life to spreading the word about the beauty of grizzly bears and that they should be offered protection and given respect. He embodied what it meant to be completely at peace with nature and took an extreme approach to defending grizzly bears’ existence. His story offers a unique perspective on the beauty of nature, but also one on the reality of its dangers.

I found this film interesting because it shows actual clips of what Treadwell had filmed while out living with the bears. Treadwell was without a doubt a caring individual who took a great interest in nature and animals.  He even nicknamed the bears- “Mr. Chocolate, The Grinch, etc”. But was that interest taken to an unsafe and unintelligent level? I would say yes. I see Timothy Treadwell as a man with good intentions who just lost sight of the reality of how potentially dangerous nature can be. Nature is not out to harm humans, but I think that a level of distance should be kept from those animals that are wild. I think that Tim’s mistake was believing that the bears would not attack if he stood his ground and didn’t provoke them. No matter how good Treadwell’s intentions were, the fact of the situation was that he was fraternizing with wild bears and finally, one bear lashed out and killed not only him, but also his girlfriend.

I thought the different viewpoints shown in this documentary helped me keep my focus on the reality of the situation and the different opinions that different cultures have. The Native American Museum attendant said that Treadwell insulted the bears by trying to be one. The pilot of the plane said that Treadwell, while he was a great man, was foolish to try to live so closely to wild grizzly bears. He said that the real tragedy was that he got his innocent girlfriend killed.

This documentary brought to light the varying viewpoints and extreme stances taken on nature. Treadwell’s was that nature and wild animals are not something to be feared, but instead closely associated with. We are meant to preserve nature and develop close relationships with its inhabitants. My personal opinion is that yes, nature should be preserved and protected, but wild animals are wild animals and precautions need to be taken to ensure your and the animals' safety.