Reflection: Interspecies Relationships
Grizzly Bears
By Matthew Roy Reeves (05/06/10 23:28:43)
Related animal: Grizzly Bear

Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns led a documentary protesting the cruelty to Grizzly Bears in Russia. Their message was backed by PBS, and it was well-received, exactly as they intended. Timothy Tredwell was controversial on both fronts, from the human viewers of his message, as well as the Grizzlies that shared his space.
Russell responded to the death of Tredwell with an "I told you so" attitude. He insisted that anybody living among Grizzlies must possess pepper spray and an electrical fence, to clearly mark a boundary between themselves and the bears. With no boundary, Tredwell became a feature of the environment, a creature low on the food chain.
What is more admirable? To live around bears with safety precautions, in attempts to protect them (while protecting oneself); or to live with bears, like a neighbor?
Tredwell was admirable in what he did, to a subjective degree. Russell and Enns more effectively shared their purpose of protecting the bears by first protecting themselves.


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