Timothy Treadwell and the grizzly that killed him

The death of Timothy Treadwell: six minutes that shattered a myth

Play dead or fight back? The answer depends on the kind of attack you are facing. Timothy Treadwell and Amie Hugenard had no time to choose wisely: on October 5, 2003, a grizzly bear attacked them in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The attack, which lasted about six minutes, was captured on a tape that has since fueled legends, hoaxes, and one uncomfortable question: to what extent was this a death foretold?

Treadwell had spent 13 years documenting bears in the area. He presented himself as a conservationist and claimed to "love" them. The later reassessment of his legacy is less forgiving: he was not a scientist, but an activist with an obsessive relationship with the animals, willing to camp in grizzly territory without weapons and, apparently, without bear spray. Those familiar with the case point out that Treadwell himself had identified the bear that killed him as aggressive and territorial long before the attack.

The tape that should never have existed

The recording of the attack is the great mystery of this story. It is not a video: it is an audio recording about six minutes long. And no, it is not the audio that has been circulating online for years. The original tape remains in a safe owned by Jewel Palovak, Treadwell's ex-girlfriend and the custodian of his legacy. Palovak has decided never to listen to it; only a handful of people have heard it with her permission, among them the director of the documentary Grizzly Man, who advised her to destroy it. The fact that the documentary bears that title and the tape still exists is, let's face it, quite an irony.

Playing dead: the advice that changes depending on the bear

The "play dead" heard among the screams was not just a desperate cry: it was, in all likelihood, the worst possible strategy. The US National Park Service's guidance is clear. In a defensive attack —surprising a bear or crossing paths with a female with cubs— you should lie face down, protect the back of your neck, and wait. In a predatory attack —the bear is stalking you or enters your tent— the rule is the opposite: fight back and focus your blows on the face and muzzle. The attack on Treadwell and Hugenard fits the second scenario. Playing dead in front of a bear that intends to eat you is not a protocol: it is a menu.

The story resists an easy sarracena. Some see in Treadwell an idealist who paid with his life for the mistake of humanizing a predator; others see an obsessive who knew exactly what he was doing and accepted the risk. There is one fact that complicates everything: the bear that killed him was known to be aggressive, and Treadwell had mentioned it in his recordings. He knew the risk. And yet he returned. The bear, for its part, has made no statements: it went on with its life, which was exactly what Treadwell wanted to protect.