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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Fatal Bear Mauling Was Recorded |
| 2003-10-09 |
| More details on yesterday’s posting. Hat tip: Drudge. The graphic sounds of a fatal bear attack were recorded, Alaska state troopers discovered Wednesday while reviewing a tape recovered near the bodies of a wildlife author and his girlfriend. Trooper Chris Hill said Timothy Treadwell may have been wearing a wireless microphone likely activated when he was attacked by the brown bear at Katmai National Park and Preserve. The videotape has audio only; the screen remains blank for the three-minute recording. "They’re both screaming. She’s telling him to play dead, then it changes to fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said. "There’s so much noise going on. I don’t know what’s him and what might be an animal." The bodies of Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found near Kaflia Bay on Monday after an air taxi pilot arrived to pick them up. The pilot contacted the National Park Service and state troopers to report a brown bear was apparently sitting on top of human remains at the campsite. After rangers arrived one of them shot and killed a large brown bear when the animal charged through the dense brush. Rangers and troopers later killed a smaller bear apparently stalking them. An autopsy on the human remains confirmed Wednesday the couple were killed by bears. Troopers recovered video and still photography equipment as well as three hours of video footage from the site, across Shelikof Strait from Kodiak Island. Much of the footage is close-up shots of bears — for which Treadwell was well-known. Some scenes show bears no more than a few feet from Treadwell, co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska." Others show a more timid Huguenard leaning away as bears come close to her on the bank of a river. The documentation should make them sure Darwin Award shoo-ins now! |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #14 "They’re both screaming. She’s telling him to play dead, then it changes to fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said. Apparently, this guy must have had a last minute change of heart - he had been previously warned about getting too close to the grizzlies, but his reply to that was: "I would be honored to end up in bear scat.". Be careful what you wish for. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-9 5:35:12 PM |
| #13 Alaskan Browns run up to 1500 pounds, in the big males. A good animal to stay far, far away from. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-10-9 5:28:46 PM |
| #12 Another obvious result of this trajedy - an e-bay bidding war for the audio tape. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-9 4:39:31 PM |
| #11 "Lawsuit against the Park Service for having dangerous bears in the park." There are no dangerous bears, just people endangering bears. If the people hadn't been there, the bear wouldn't have felt threatened and had to defend itself. Then George Bush's chief enforcer John Ashcroft used this excuse to send his Homeland Security Forest Rangers in to kill the endangered bears to clear the way for Dick Chenny's oil rigs. I'll bet that bear ends up as a rug in the oval office Bush stole in 2000. See how easy that was? |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-9 3:00:55 PM |
| #10 Coming even sooner: Lawsuit against the Park Service for having dangerous bears in the park. |
| Posted by: Captain Holly 2003-10-9 2:41:15 PM |
| #9 AP: Good point. I've also heard that playing dead just gets you dead - that in no way ever are humans to signal to a bear that they're an easy meal. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-10-9 2:29:31 PM |
| #8 Coming soon: The Bear Witch Project |
| Posted by: BH 2003-10-9 2:01:27 PM |
| #7 There is another possibility, also. A menstrating woman could attract a bear from the scent. Not a good thing for either of the humans. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-9 1:45:55 PM |
| #6 Hmm...sounds like it was getting harder to get the big game so Papa Bear decided to try the easy--and dumb--pickings that presented themselves. I bet he was pleasantly surprised when his next meal just walked up within inches of him. No hunting--No stalking--No hide--No horns--No claws or fangs--just one big hunk o' nice, warm meat practically serving itself to him. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-10-9 1:42:00 PM |
| #5 A few more details: Mr Wilkinson said the tape begins with sounds of Mr Treadwell screaming that he is being attacked and calling for help to 37-year-old Ms Huguenard, who was apparently still inside a tent. "It's obvious that the attack was going on before the tape was turned on," said Mr Wilkinson, who quoted from the tapes. "Come out here; I'm being killed out here," Mr Treadwell said. "Play dead!" Ms Huguenard yelled in reply. That strategy is commonly used to pacify angry bears in an attack. But Mr Treadwell told Ms Huguenard the strategy was not working and she urged him to "fight back". Mr Treadwell, who never carried weapons, then asked her to get a pan and to hit the bear, police said. At that point, the tape - much of it fuzzy and inaudible, stops, Mr Wilkinson said. And from Anchorage Daily: Among the last words Timothy Treadwell uttered to his girlfriend before a bear killed and partially ate both of them were these: "Get out here. I'm getting killed.'' Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said there are no pictures on the tape, leading troopers to believe the attack might have happened while the camera was stuffed in a duffle bag or during the dark of night. Treadwell had talked to an associate in Malibu, Calif., by satellite phone around noon Sunday. He mentioned no problems with any bears. The remains of the Southern Californians who periodically came to Alaska to live intimately with the bears were found the next day. A large but scrawny old bear with bad teeth that a pilot had seen sitting on the brush and dirt pulled over the bodies was shot and killed by National Park Service rangers at the scene after it charged them. Bingo, scrawny old bear with bad teeth translates to bad tempered hungry bear. It also is the same description used in most cases of man-eating lions. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-9 12:52:14 PM |
| #4 I can just imagine PETA's reaction to this. " She hit the bear with a stick!? That Nazi pig! " |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-10-9 11:27:25 AM |
| #3 "An autopsy on the human remains confirmed Wednesday the couple were killed by bears." What was the first clue? The bear on top of the human remains? "It could have been giant rabid turtles, but we're pretty sure it was the bear." |
| Posted by: BossMan 2003-10-9 10:59:30 AM |
| #2 He called her in to hit the bear while he was being attacked? I can just imagine that conversation with my wife - "I'm being mauled by a wild animal, dear, please come join me in the killing zone." He'd never heard of "run away, save yourself"? This guy was no loss, but the the girlfriend certainly paid a high price for her bad choice in mates. I'm sure PETA will be apalled they tried to defend themselves at all ... |
| Posted by: VAMark 2003-10-9 10:55:05 AM |
| #1 *ROAR* Unnhh...aaa.....AAAIIIEEEEEE!!!!!! *CHOMP* |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-9 10:54:50 AM |