Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Retrospectives Spotlight Destroyed Audio From 2003 Katmai Grizzly Mauling

Renewed coverage highlights the ethical choice to eliminate the tape capturing the couple's final moments.

Overview

  • Wildlife advocate Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard were killed by a grizzly in Katmai National Park in October 2003.
  • Alaska state troopers who heard the tape reported Treadwell yelling, “get out of here, I’m getting killed,” as the attack unfolded.
  • Director Werner Herzog used Treadwell’s footage in Grizzly Man but refused to include the audio and urged Jewel Palovak never to listen to it.
  • Palovak, Treadwell’s close friend and Grizzly People co-founder, later destroyed the tape after hearing part of it, calling the decision freeing.
  • Rangers documented a ravaged campsite near Kaflia Bay, shot an older male grizzly that charged them, and recovered human remains from the bear’s stomach, with officials concluding Treadwell’s close proximity and late-season camping in feeding areas likely contributed to the attack.