Customer Reviews

Among Grizzlies: Living with Wild Bears in Alaska

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On the surface, Timothy Treadwell's book "Among Grizzlies" is a book about one of my favorite subjects: bears. This is why I read the book from start to finish. But it isn't long after one begins the book before one realizes that just beneath the surface this is actually a book about a man with a death wish and all the talk about bears (which can make for an adequate "bear read", mind you) is really a series of descriptions of this sad individual's numerous attempts to force a horrible death upon himself.

Treadwell begins his book by describing his being shot at by drug dealers and his having taken an overdose of illegal narcotics that only CPR and an Emergency Room could bring him back from. From the beginning to the end of the book he talks about his addiction to and abuse of alcohol. When he reaches the point of the book at which he sets out to live among Alaska's wild Grizzly Bears and describes the many times that he was charged by irate Grizzlies for having come within ridiculously close proximity to these bears in his attempts to kiss them on the nose, etc, it is clear that his interest in bears is simply a continuation of a long progression of suicide attempts disguised as "experimentation". At the end of the book he tells us that of all the bears he came to know during his stays in the Alaskan wilderness, the one he "loved the most" was the one bear that had tried most seriously to kill him.

This book is by no means scientific. In fact, I have never read a book written by a person who had spent so much time in the wilderness only to come away from it with so little understanding of it. At times Treadwell admits to being a very incapable wilderness explorer and he tells his readers of such instances as the first time night fell upon him while he was alone in the wilderness. In that instance his problem was that once it had become dark he realized that he had never so much as unrolled the tent he had brought to live in and so he would be totally unable to set it up in the darkness.

But in another bizarre description of his being totally surrounded by nature's bounty, watching huge Grizzly Bears procuring so many clams that they were fattening for winter as he watched, Treadwell worries that he will starve to death because he had eaten his last Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and finished off his last can of Tuna Fish and the plane that was scheduled to bring him more food had not arrived on the anticipated day! Unfortunately, he wasn't kidding.

This would be a harmless, albeit a bit ridiculous, book were it not for the fact that Treadwell adopts a superior, "Holier Than Thou" attitude toward hunters and other wilderness explorers. He talks about legal hunters and poachers as if they were one and the same and he blames licenced sportsmen for the decline of America's Grizzly population. This is untrue. He also blames sight seers in the Alaskan wilderness for driving bears to inadequate habitats and refers to these tourists as "these people", completely ignoring the fact that he is not only one of "these people" but also by far the most intrusive among them.

Bears are good. People are bad. Treadwell is good because Treadwell is a bear. This is Treadwell's strange, immature philosophy.

In his epilogue Treadwell reminds his readers that he never intended his book to have the effect upon others that Hemingway's description of the running of the bulls had.

I wouldn't worry about that, Tim.

I guess it's fairly obvious that as much as I enjoy reading about bears, I had an adverse reaction to the thought of Timothy Treadwell roaming among them and fancying himself one of them. There is a great deal of bear discussion in this book and many of his descriptions of bear behavior and the reaction of bears to Treadwell's behavior are not devoid of value for bear enthusiasts. For that, one might want to read this book. I might even recommend it.

My hope is that when Treadwell finally accomplishes his real goal, the bears he lives among will not acquire a taste for human flesh as a result of his having forced the meal upon them.

Like many people I read this book shortly after Timothy's fatal mauling. I was expecting an academic book about bears that laid out the research findings of Timothy Treadwell. What I got was something of a cross between the horse-whisperer and that crazy woman who used to live down the street who had tea parties with her 50 stupidly named cats.

I have to admit I found the book intriguing although I was constantly feeling uneasy about what he was saying and doing. I think spreading information and love for animals, especially animals that could be at risk, is good. In the end we truly will only save what we value. But, by the end of this book I was deeply concerned about what kind of an example Timothy is giving the world. Bears, especially the coastal Browns in Katmai, are not blood thirsty killers, but the nature of bears is unpredictable, and much like people, different from individual to individual. Timothy does make this clear in his different encounters with bears.

What Timothy does not point out or even seem to consider is that historically any time bears become habituated to people, bears suffer. Timothy's close approach to bears did nothing to help the bears or bear research. At best it only boosted his celebrity. In the book, he mentions several of these irresponsible encounters, in one example he leans over to kiss a yearling bear on the nose.

I recommend reading the book, even if at times it seems like watching a train wreck. If possible, read it with Grizzly Maze by Nick Jans or Death in the Grizzly Maze by Mike Lapinski. After you realize that he embellished nearly all parts of his life; claiming to be Australian, claiming to be an orphan .... You will get the grain of salt you should take with this book.

While my heart goes out to all those that knew him and loved him,I am deeply saddened by this story of a man who was so disturbed that his fantasy became his undoing. I appreciate his interest and passion in ecology and the environment but I am saddened by his lack of animal knowledge and his aparent mental instability. In many way he caused these bears further harm by allowing them to become so accustomed to human presence. Other humans do not have such placid motives in tracking bears.

Actually, against my better taste, I enjoyed reading this book. However, I thought Threadwell was smoking something funny as his behavior seem to be so dangerous. The author was mauled and eaten by a bear in Alaska last October 2003 and the book seem to show why. He seem to treat bears like people but he forgot that like people, bears can go good, indifferent or bad. Ironically, just like its very dangerous for bears to lose their fear of humans, its equally dangerous for a man to lose his fear of the bear. The book clearly shows that Threadwell slowly overcoming his fear of bears (although he remains wary) and actually feeling comfortable around them as the pages turned. That can be considered as a bad move, arrogant and presumptuous. Threadwell also seem to mistaken bears' tolerance for him as some sort of a mystic connection. He began to treat these bears as if they were his personal wild pets, giving them names and intruding into their space. Such behavior only works while the bears were amazingly tolerant of Threadwell's presence. Although he had many close calls, it wasn't enough to bring caution into his mind. Despite of his obvious love of bears and fear that one of them might get kill because of him, Threadwell didn't seem to mind that he put himself in harm's way. Although Threadwell stated that he don't mind being bear fodder, he obviously fought back hard if the newspaper accounts were correct when he was about to become the next afternoon snack. The book also seem to revealed Threadwell's obession with proachers and all that although Threadwell don't go into any kind of details. I was left with an impression that maybe the author took some liberties while writing this book.

This story reminds me of the Chris Mcandless story by John Krackauer(SP), Into The Wild. It too is a story of someone who doesn't understand the fact that nature is constanlty at war to survive. One point missed by Chris, Tim, et al. is that when humans step into the wild we instantly become participants in a war of survival that every animal in nature is a mandatory participant. It is a constant calculation of calories expended versus calories gained that keeps animals like grizzlies from eating people on sight. When you seem to put up more of a fight than the calories they would gain from eating you, they leave you alone. But, when you seem to be so easily accesible and digestible then they will eat you, regardless of the contribution to humanity or science you are intending to make on their behalf. I have been an avid outdoorsman my entire life and I know why wolves, bears, and cougars were killed off by early settlers moving across America; because they are dangerous to livestock and humans. They are the most efficient predators God could create and nature could perfect. Unlike humans, mother nature doesn't do her testing in a lab coat and test tube, she does hers in fur and through the use of teeth and claws.

This book shows the author up close & personal with wild amimals- so close that if he were in the lower 48 states, in a national park, he would be arrested. THis is not good stewardship! He calls Alaskan brown bears grixxly bears, but these are NOT the same bears as those in the Yellowstone & Glacier ecosystems. In all places but Alaska, when people get close to bears, bears become used to people and are eventually killed by bear managers. In fact, Treadwell's presence in Alaska has ben condemned by Alaskan authorities!

Considering how Tim met his unfortunate demise, and his lady friend's as well - this may seem cold. But somehow, the words "I don't think so, Tim" keep coming to mind. Many summers spent hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada taught me to respect not only bears, but all wildlife. Much the same as ocean swimmers should respect sharks; people in the wilderness should respect any animal capable of "decapitating them" in less than a heartbeat. And a grizzly bear fits that description.
Tim Treadwell seems to have "Yogi Bear" in mind, not "grizzly bear". The story of his nearly killing himself with drugs, but then recovering to live in the wilderness among the animals is wonderful as a story; but the wildnerness is harsh even to those who "know what they're doing". Hearing that Tim did not know of the abundance of food, or fresh water - or even how dark it gets at night - would be almost humorous if they weren't so sad. It seemed that his death was almost a fait accompli when he first set foot in Katmai - without really knowing what he was getting himself into. Humans are not bears, and Katmai isn't Southern California. If you do read this book, and surely news of his death will prompt readership - do so knowing that the good Tim did is only good if it keeps others from making his same mistakes.

Treadwell represents pretty much what all Alaskans hate about the "environmental movement." He was from outside, Malibu no less! He was arrogant. He openly derided Alaskans with far, far more experience dealing with the great bears than he had. He came here only for the warm season, and promptly fled at first snow fall. He accused Alaskans of being poachers, though he never provided any evidence to back up his claims. He even claimed Alaskans were trying to kill him, again with no supporting evidence. These allegations were either the product of a deranged mind or the cold efforts of a con artists to raise money from naive audiences in the lower 48.

His actions led directly to the deaths of two bears, killed in self-defense by rangers coming to collect his remains. Both bears charged the rangers. Put this in perspective. Even big brown bears (they were NOT repeat NOT "grizzly bears") will typically run off a kill when humans come. They are terrified of us. Something had conditioned these bears to lose their fear of humans. That something was Treadwell himself, and his constant efforts to make the brownies feel he was no threat. As a result those bears died.

So far from saving "his" bears, Treadwell ensured that two would be killed. Now the entire area must be sealed off since the current generation of bears there no longer fear humans.

"A heart-stopping eco-adventure, a testimony to both the grizzlies and their courageous protector." ... People Magazine

I cringed with muffled laughter when I first saw this statement from the folks at "People Magazine" and within the pages of "Among Grizzlies" here today...just hours after I read in "Alaska" magazine the account of how Tim Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed by Alaskan grizzlies.

I'm sorry...but the decade or so that Treadwell spent amongst the grizzlies of Alaska were nothing but an "ego" adventure and I'm still trying to figure out who "People" or Treadwell, for that matter, thought he was protecting the wild grizzly from.

In the February, 2004 issue of "Alaska" magazine, Nick Jans, at the conclusion of his article about these tragic deaths and why they may have occurred stated this as his float plane glided along Kaflia Lake (site of the maulings and deaths) just prior to take off and referring to a huge male grizzly they had just observed...

"In another few days he'd clamber up the mountain, burrow into his den and go to sleep for the winter. He didn't need anything from us. He wasn't our friend. He had no name. All he wanted was to be left alone."

The more books of this type that are written and read, the least likely the chance that the Alaskan grizzly will be left alone.

I think Timothy Treadwells' heart is in the right place, but I feel his grasp on reality has been altered by his past history of self abuse. I started to read his book with the best of intentions but after a few pages, I really started to doubt this guys sanity. There is no way a person so totally unfamiliar with bears could have survived so many chance encounters and walk away without so much as a scratch. Sorry dude, but I think childrens books might be a better literary choice for your story telling abilities.