I watched the documentary Grizzly Man on the Discovery Channel this weekend. It is the story of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived among the grizzly bears in Alaska. For 4 months out of every year, for 13 years, Timothy lived in the woods among a clan of bears which he grew quite fond of. The story is marked by his and his friend’s mauling at the paws of the very animals he followed.

The documentary shows a transformation Timothy went under as he began to withdraw from society and become more like the bears. He obssesses over saving the grizzlies from poachers and other human beings, believing he is the only person who understands their way of life.

A false step leads to his dimise. As fall was approaching his clan of bears went into hibernation and Timothy headed home. At the airport he had a falling out with one of the airline workers and he headed back into the Alaskan wilderness. Upon his return a new clan of bears had moved in from the north, an unknown group of animals not acclimated to man. It was by these bears he and his friend were killed.

I was fascinated by his story. He candidly discussed his troubles relating with other people. He talked much about girl troubles and how hard it was to find someone who understood him. As the years went on he became more and more obssessed with the animals. He felt that he would be the sole reason for their survival. Timothy would play games with other people who ventured into woods.

At one point he crosses the line and starts interferring with nature. In 2000 a drought hit Alaska and a significant rainfall did not happen for many months. Creekbeds dried up and the salmon could not travel upstream to spawn. The bears turned on each other for food. Timothy found many carcasses of bears feasted upon by others. He attempted to modify a stream to allow water to flow and the salmon to spawn. When that didn’t work out he turned to God and he began to beg for rain. The movie shows him rant, close to insanity, about the killing of the bears by the lack of water. He pleads with God, Allah, or any God, to bring water for his bears are starving. The next day it begins to pour.

At the end of the movie the narrator makes an interesting point. Although the Timothy had grown so fond of these animals you never saw their affection back. When you look into the bear’s eyes all you see is ignorance of others and patience with all the commotion of the humans. You even see boredom, waiting for the next sign of food to show up. Unfortunately for Timothy, they were done tolerating him.