Mixed Feelings about Timothy Treadwell (sorry this is pretty old)

I just wanted to discuss a little further the movie about Timothy Treadwell and his quest to save the grizzlies in Alaska. I was recently reminded of him and his movie yesterday when we were discussing one of the leading causes for the decrease in grizzly populations in the North West in my biogeography course. One of the major causes as you can assume was not tourists or poachers like Treadwell was under the impression of, but an epidemic of Mountain Pine Beetles. This beetle has the ability to kill much of the pine forests in the grizzly’s habitat which is an issue since the grizzly’s main source of food before hibernation are the nutrient abundant pine seeds. Without these pine seeds, the forest cannot sustain the grizzly population. So although Treadwell had good intentions they were probably not that effective. Though I do admire his boldness, setting out to do what he wanted despite social stigmas opposing him, I can’t help but question his sincerity in helping the bears. It seemed as if he had alterative motives for “saving the bears”, channeling his search for stardom through these documentaries. What supported this speculation was when the documentary showed him failing to rescue the bears when they were being pelted by rocks from photographers. However despite all the doubts and controversy of his work, it cannot be denied that he did bring attention to the bears that maybe wasn’t there before which I guess was one of his main goals. Also, the in depth studies Treadwell did and the hours of footage of the bears I’m sure can help advance our understanding of them and their behavior.