He was known as a ‘bear whisperer’ but the creatures Timothy Treadwell spent his life observing would prove to be his downfall, as chilling audio footage revealed
Timothy Treadwell had been long warned about getting up close and personal with Alaskan grizzly bears. Despite the dangers, the enthusiast’s passion for the majestic creatures prompted him to visit them every summer.
On his 13th such outing to the remote state, Timothy’s luck would run out. Originally from New York, the 46-year-old had taken his girlfriend Amie Huguenard along for the ride and they camped in thick bush on a popular bear trail.
Neither of them would make it home, for hours before their sea plane was due to pick them up in the Alaskan wilderness of Katmai National Park, Timothy was eaten alive by a grizzly bear. Amie, 37, suffered the same fate after courageously trying to stop the animal eating her boyfriend.
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Timothy’s last words before he was eaten alive were revealed in six minutes of audio footage he had started recording, which kept rolling as the couple were consumed. After the attack starts, Amie is heard asking if the bear is still out there and her boyfriend screams in reply: “Get out here! I’m getting killed out here!”
The doctor’s assistant rushes to open the tent zipper when her boyfriend tells her the bear is killing him, urging him to “play dead”. There is more screaming and shouting and it sounds like the bear releases Timothy from his clutches before clamping his jaws around the man’s head once more.
With time running out, the frantic audio captured Timothy’s anguished last words: “Hit the bear”. Amie tells him to “fight back” as she attacks it with a frying pan but a series of screams is then heard before the tape runs out.
The following day, Alaskan air taxi pilot Willy Fulton didn’t find the couple waiting at the shore to be picked up as usual. Instead, he was met with the “meanest looking bear” standing on top of a pile of human remains.
In a 3ft mound of grass, mud and twigs, a ranger would later find other body parts. The couple’s tent had collapsed and was torn, with their snack for the evening left untouched.
Timothy’s passion for bears had started when he was a child, when he would head to Alaska on camping trips with his family. He became a wildlife photographer and conservationist, visiting bears annually up until his death in 2003.
The eccentric animal lover frustrated rangers for his refusal to carry pepper spray to ward off bears, nor would he put up electric fences to keep the creatures at bay. Instead, he seemed to grow bolder each year and progressed to touching bears, letting one lick his hand and even kissing one on the nose.
A documentary was later made about the couple’s death by Werner Herzog, called Grizzly Man.
