Grizzly bear activist couple camped with the deadly predators to prove they were friendly but ended up recording their own grisly deaths

Grizzly bears may look fuzzy and cute, but it’s worth remembering that they are deadly predators that can and will eat a person if hungry enough. In 2003, a couple of bear activists, Timothy Treadwell and his partner Amie Huguenard embarked on a camping trip in Alaska only to meet a terrible end at the paws of the very animal they were trying to advocate for.

Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37, frequently embarked on trips where they would spend time with bears. Timothy was a recovering heroin addict but it seems he felt a sort of kinship with the bears, naming them, playing with them, and even believing he was at one with them according to an article from the Mirror.

Perhaps it was Treadwell’s past success with befriending bears that led him to underestimate the danger he was putting him and his partner in, but in October (a time of year when bears are most aggressive) the couple ventured to Alaska for their annual camping trip. Huguenard had previously expressed concerns over their safety, telling friends that she was scared of the bears and that she believed Treadwell was “hellbent on destruction.”

Treadwell and Huguenard’s last trip ended in tragedy

Unfortunately for the couple, Amie’s fears were realized on the very trip she vowed would be her last one. The day before they were due to be picked up by a seaplane bound for home, the couple were attacked by a 1,000 pound grizzly bear and audio of their deaths was even captured on the camera which Huguenard had turned on prior to the attack.

The lens cap was left on the camera, but the audio of the gruesome attack can still be heard. It’s never been released but Werner Herzog, director of Grizzly Man, a documentary chronicling the life and death of Treadwell and Huguenard, has listened to it. When asked about it, Herzog stated that the audio should be deleted so nobody else has to listen to it.

According to those who have listened, the audio starts with Amie asking if the bear is still out there. Timothy can be heard screaming “Get out here! I’m getting killed out here!” Amie rushes outside and tells her partner to “play dead,” which works temporarily. However, the bear soon resumes its attack, dragging Treadwell away. 

Timothy tells her to hit the bear which likely only served to anger the beast even more. Eventually, Treadwell’s screams diminish but shortly afterward, Aime can be heard letting out blood-curdling screams.

When the pilot arrived to pick them up the next day he found a gruesome sight: a huge grizzly bear sitting upon a pile of remains belonging to Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard. The bear was shot and the couple’s remains were recovered, (they had to be brought back in four separate bin bags). In the end Timothy’s own hubris ended up being his and Amie’s undoing.