The Treadwell maze

Mike Lapinski's "Death in the Grizzly Maze" is a book about the self-proclaimed eco-warrior Timothy Treadwell, who perhaps doesn't need a closer introduction.

Treadwell lived around brown bears in Katmai (a national park in Alaska) for thirteen seasons in a row, somehow getting the wild bears to tolerate his presence. He became a national celebrity in the United States, claiming to defend the bears from poachers and other threats. In 2003, tragedy struck: Treadwell and his companion Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by brown bears as they were camping in an area Treadwell called the Grizzly Maze.

Who was Timothy Treadwell? What motivated him to socialize at close distance with dangerous and potentially lethal animals? Could the tragedy of his and Amie's deaths have been avoided, or was it inevitable? Werner Herzog's award-winning movie "Grizzly Man" gives one answer, a rather disturbing one: Treadwell was out of his mind, wanted to cross the line between man and beast, and inevitably failed. Herzog even believes that Treadwell was driven by a death wish. Lapinski's book hints at another answer, perhaps an even more disturbing one: Treadwell was a hoax, a con artist whose primary goal was fame and celebrity status. However, he also has an alternative explanation: the frequently erratic behaviour of Treadwell was caused by bipolar disorder.

Although Lapinski isn't a big fan of Tim Treadwell, he nevertheless has a grudging respect for the man. He never accuses him of being a con man outright. Yet, after reading "Death in the Grizzly Maze", I must say that I veer strongly towards that option. Too many of Treadwell's claims just don't ad up. He claimed to defend the brown bears at Katmai against poachers, and even formed an organization in California to finance his activities. In reality, there are no poachers in Katmai, a national park visited by thousands of tourists every year. Indeed, all of Treadwell's encounters were with tourist guides, tourists, park rangers and competing movie makers. Once, Treadwell even faked evidence for poaching! Treadwell claimed he was carrying out unique research, but his book "Among grizzlies" contains nothing new, except numerous errors or old information taken from works by others. Treadwell also habitually misinformed sponsors and supporters about his activities at Katmai.

But how did Timothy Treadwell manage to survive so long among wild bears? Lapinski believes that the bears at Katmai are, relatively speaking, more peaceful and tolerant of humans than bears in other parts of Alaska or the United States. The Katmai bears aren't even "real" grizzlies, but rather brown bears (the same species but a different population). If Treadwell had tried to socialize with bears in the Rockies or the Alaskan inland, he would have ended up dead much sooner! The author also points out that the Katmai bears are well fed during the summer season, which also lowers rates of aggression. By the time the bears started to starve, Treadwell was usually long gone, having returned to California.

What strikes me most when reading "Death in the Grizzly Maze" is the absurdity of it all. Why didn't park authorities stop Treadwell immediately? Why was he allowed to continue his bizarre antics for 13 years? Why didn't any of his sponsors or supporters call a bear biologist or the park authority to check Treadwell's facts? Why didn't the media question him? (A silly question, I know.)

"Death in the Grizzly Maze" doesn't just raise disturbing questions about Timothy Treadwell. It also raises questions about ourselves. And that maze might be even more impenetrable.