Letters from Charlie/Timothy Treawell By Danusia Young (05/09/10 21:10:47)
Related animal: Bear The article “Letters from Charlie.” was very interesting. Not a long ago I did see a few youtube clips about Timothy Treawell but I did not know that he was killed by one of the bears. After viewing few of the short documentary shots of him I remember thinking that he has to love danger. Even he sad himself that he is different from other people and even though the situation is extremely dangerous he love to live around the wiled bears. I agree with the author of the article that Timothy should take safety measures when living in wild. I think that similar to human societies one can find good, “passionate” (as author points), friendly bears. But in the same time one can encounter bears that are extremely dangerous and aggressive. I also believe that if we want to study any type of wild animals we should keep a save distance not only to protect ourselves but also to give them the space that they need to maintain their natural habitat. We as a human race already taken away their natural way of existence and now have to learn to live with them in a peaceful coexistence with out interfering. Maybe they did tolerate Timothy but never really accepted him in to their bear family (though he seemed to think otherwise).
The documentary film, “Walking with the Giants” left me with many questions that are very hard to answer. Do I agree with Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns interference in the daily life of the grizzly bears of Kamchatka? The film made me realized that their intentions to live among the grizzlies, study them in close proximity and help people to understand their true nature is good but how do their interactions with the bears influence future encounters with other humans? Through this film I began to appreciate their effort and determination to change our views about bears being one of the most dangers animals on the planet. It is my opinion that any species that are put in a dangerous or unusual situations may kill to protect themselves. Even domesticated animal can impulsively turns against their owner under stressful circumstances. Charles and Maureen’s work with the small bear cubs proved to others that given a second chance these cubs and others like them could be easily shown how to adapt to their natural environment. The cubs also proved that they could learn fast on their own with little help from humans. I only hope that after trusting Russell and Enns, not only the cubs but also other bears, will still be cautious around humans. I think that we do not have to put ourselves in close proximity to wild animals to study them. Perhaps if people can keep a save distance when studying various species, the risk of endangering the animals would be diminished.
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