martes, 2 de febrero de 2016

El mito renacido. Hombres oso y leyendas naturalistas.

Dan Haggerty como Grizzly Adams

Recientemente, el estreno e inminente éxito de "El Renacido" me ha llevado a conversaciones y consultas varias con personas que confundían una serie de personajes históricos relacionados con los osos, especialmente con los grizzlies americanos. Una especie de sopa de héroes de la supervivencia, la exploración y la vinculación casi totémica con estos grandes animales.
Hug Glass, el personaje real en que se basa el libro de Michael Punke que inspira la película, es el mismo que inspiró "El hombre de tierras salvajes", protagonizada por Richard Harris y dirigida por Richard C. Sarafian.
En la película de Sarafian, el personaje de Richard Harris acompaña a la tripulación de un barco cuyo capitán (J. Huston) ha decidido hacer cruzar del Este al Oeste por las salvajes tierras americanas del siglo XIX sobre ruedas. Durante la expedición, en busca de víveres, dicho personaje es atacado por un oso y abandonado por sus compañeros, que lo dan por muerto o así prefieren hacerlo.

Si la supervivencia en soledad en plena naturaleza salvaje es difícil, salir adelante en el lamentable estado físico del protagonista del film es toda una odisea, muy propia del cine western crepuscular de los años setenta con ciertos aires ecologistas y reivindicativos de las culturas indígenas. En general tocadas además por la influencia de narradores como James Oliver Curwood o Jack London, se trata de películas de inspiración naturalista, aventurera y de supervivencia inspiradas o directamente basadas en las narraciones de Curwood, London o Salten, tal y como ilustramos hace tiempo al respecto de las producciones Disney. Lo hacíamos rememorando la gran influencia de "La llamada de la selva", de London, y, muy especialmente, de "Nómadas del Norte", de Curwood, en la película "El Oso", de Jean Jaques Annaud, quien fue asesorado para la ocasión por Doug Peacock, un marine convertido a naturalista y conservacionista volcado en el estudio de los osos grizzly. Tal vez por esta circunstancia, Peacock es confundido con otro Doug, Doug Seus, otro gran conocedor de estos osos y adiestrador de Bart, el ejemplar que protagoniza la película de Annaud y otras muchas que han contado con su imponente presencia.

El advenimiento de una cierta filosofía conservacionista y una reivindicación de las culturas autóctonas es algo evidente en "Pequeño Gran Hombre", de Arthur Penn, "Jeremiah Johnson" (uno de los personajes con los que se confunde a Glass), de Sidney Pollack o toda la saga de "Un Hombre llamado caballo" (protagonizada por el mismo Richard Harris) que marcarían el camino y el estilo de films posteriores como "Caminando con Lobos", de Kevin Kostner. De hecho, todos ellos beben de esa recuperada tradición naturalista tamizada por la cultura folk.
Una mezcla de ambos parece confluir en otro personaje bien distinto, Timothy Treadwell, activista como Peacock y como él aventurero y explorador de la geografía salvaje americana, además de documentalista. Es a Treadwell a quien Werner Herzog dedicó una película documental antes de cuya conclusión el ya por siempre conocido como Hombre Oso falleció junto con su esposa atacados, precisamente, por uno de los osos con los que más contacto habían tenido a lo largo de los años. Grizzly Man cuenta la historia de Treadwell y su dedicación al seguimiento de los osos, y tal vez el título de la película invita a la confusión con el del libro más célebre de Doug Peacock, "Mis años grizzly (en busca de la naturaleza salvaje)".
Está claro que Dog Peacock, Timothy Treadwell y Doug Seus han hecho méritos para pasr a la historia como hombres oso u hombres grizzly, pero sin duda en esto les llevaba ventaja Hugh Glass, famoso por sus múltiples peripecias con los indios y sus servicios como guía, pero sin duda inmortalizado por su supervivencia a un ataque de oso y al periplo consiguiente en un estado físico crítico que terminó por afianzar para siempre su carácter heroico hasta extremos míticos.

Lo que no tiene excusa es llegar al extremo de confundir a Glass, por mucho que arrastre el halo de los héroes de la conquista de las tierras salvajes, con el "hombre oso" más popular de la cultura americana, Grizzly Adams, James, o John según las fuentes, fué un explorador y a la postre defensor de la naturaleza que adquirió fama por su conquista en solitario de parajes ignotos donde llegó a hacerse con un cachorro de oso (Benjamin Franklin, o "Ben") al que crió y adiestró haciéndole compañía durante años. Hace apenas un par de semanas que nos dejó para siempre la imagen más perdurable del personaje para el cine y la televisión, el naturalista vocacional y actor Dan Haggerty, adiestrador de osos por imperativos profesionales y por incomparable adecuación a su papel.

El tránsito entre la década de los 60 y la de los 70, marcada por la cultura hippie y sus miras a la naturaleza es un momento propicio para el renacimiento y revisión de los personajes entregados al retorno a la vida natural y la comunión con animales y plantas. El paisaje mítico de los westerns se replantea en contraste con la violenta intrusión humana, y los héroes como Buffalo Bill son ridiculizados o demonizados por sus auténticos atentados ecologistas y genocidas. La narrativa cinematográfica se lo replantea a la vez que las modernas ópticas panorámicas se recrean en dotar a los espacios abiertos de un nuevo punto de vista acorde con los tiempos de las explosiones urbanísticas.

No obstante, no es infrecuente que también un aura de decadente romanticismo envuelva dichas revisiones, como en el caso del juez Roy Bean interpretado por Paul Newman, a quien también vemos acompañado de un oso en complicidad con su visitante ocasional, el mismo Grizzly Adams, para la ocasión interpretado por un ácido John Huston probablemente más cercano a la realidad, aunque el oso elegido para el film fuera un ejemplar de oso negro.
Dan Haggerty nos ha dejado a los 74 años, víctima del cáncer, pero el auténtico Grizzly Adams, aunque ya con serios problemas físicos, murió a consecuencia de las lesiones sufridas por un ataque de grizzly al final de sus días, lo que no hizo sino redondear su legendaria estampa, análogamente a lo que acabaría por ocurrirle a Timothy Treadwell de modo todavía más trágico.
La memoria es traicionera y muchos recuerdan vagamente las imágenes de la historia narrada en la película "Jeremiah Johnson", tal vez mi favorita de mi admirado Sidney Pollack, en la que el personaje interpretado por Robert Redford parecía estar opositando para habitante de las montañas ante un tribunal de fieras, bosques, climatología e indios. Los osos estaban incluidos, por supuesto, y ciertas fotos del rodaje de la película, con un Redford confiadamente acompañado por un oso, han dado lugar al aumento de confusión entre los menos puestos en el asunto.

Lo que es irónico es que el más antiguo y el más moderno de los hombres oso hayan sido perseguidos en la memoria colectiva por el mismo personaje, Hug Glass, que les haya robado esa memoria por haber sobrevivido al ataque de un oso de la misma especie que dió apelativo y quitó la vida a los otros dos.
El mérito de Glass consiste, más que en su defensa de los osos, o su convivencia con ellos, en sobrevivir a su ataque y llevar a cabo una mítica gesta de superación y supervivencia.

Espero que este post os haya aclarado un poco quién es quién, aunque lo que creo que debería quedarnos claro es que los mitos nacen o perviven porque así lo desea la comunidad que los genera o los mantiene vivos y, por encima de identidades precisas, de algún modo necesitamos de la existencia de hombres oso que velen por nosotros y por los grandes bosques.

Sirva como pequeño homenaje de despedida a Dan Haggerty, no sea que se le olvide justamente cuando está de actualidad de nuevo gracias al cine la historia del mismo hombre que eclipsó de alguna manera o se mimetizó con el personaje que marcó su existencia.

Mafa Alborés

Para que veáis que sé que lo que os gusta es que comparta con vosotros el material virtual que llego a recopilar, dejo sobre mi/vuestro escritorio todo lo necesario para no volver a confundir a Grizzly Adams con Hugh Glass, a Doug Peacok con Doug Seus o Timothy Treadwell o mucho menos a ninguno de ellos con Jeremiah Johnson o con Ted Bear Grylls.
Os dejo extractos de wikipedia que podéis ver al completo a través de los links acerca de los exploradores y naturalistas comentados, y, cómo no, acerca de Bart the Bear. En cuanto a Doug Seus, su cuidador y adiestrador para el cine, os ofrezco un excelente reportaje de Justin Stakes.

Enlace recomendado

Hugh Glass

Recorrido del legendario viaje de regreso de Hugh Glass, herido por el ataque de una osa.

Hugh Glass (c. 1780 — 1833) fue un destacado trampero y hombre de la frontera («frontiersman») estadounidense, conocido por sus hazañas en el Oeste de Estados Unidos durante el primer tercio del siglo XIX.
Poco se sabe sobre las primeras etapas de vida de Glass. Probablemente nació en Pensilvania y algunas historias sobre él afirman que fue marinero, un renuente pirata con Jean Lafitte y también un pawnee honorario. Mejor documentadas están sus campañas como explorador en la cuenca alta del río Misuri, en la región de los actuales estados de Dakota del Sur y Montana.
Glass es famoso, sobre todo, por haber realizado un legendario viaje a través del campo después de haber sido atacado y herido por una osa grizzly. Una película de 1971, titulada Man in the Wilderness, protagonizada por Richard Harris y John Huston, se inspira en esta historia. En 2015 una película cuyo título es El renacido y protagonizada por Leonardo DiCaprio también se inspira en esta misma historia.

Expedición del General Ashley

La aventura más famosa de Glass comenzó en 1822, cuando respondió a un anuncio de la Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser de San Luis. Es muy conocido el anuncio, insertado por el general William Henry Ashley y su socio Andrew Henry, buscando un centenar de:

«[...] jóvenes emprendedores... para ascender el río Misuri hasta su fuente, donde serán empleados por uno, dos o tres años. [...] enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years.

Esos emprendedores serían conocidos como los «Cien de Ashley» (Ashley's Hundred) y, además de Glass, participaron en esa empresa otros destacados hombres de frontera y tramperos, como Jim Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick, David Jackson, John Fitzgerald, William Sublette, Jim Bridger y Jedediah Smith.
Desde principios del viaje, Glass se mostró como un experimentado trampero. Al parecer, en este viaje fue herido en una reyerta con los arikaras, y más tarde viajó con un grupo de trece hombres para relevar a los comerciantes de Fort Henry, en la desembocadura del río Yellowstone. La expedición, dirigida por Andrew Henry, tenía previsto remontar el río Misuri hasta el valle del río Grand, en la actual Dakota del Sur, y seguir después a través del valle del río Yellowstone.

La lucha

En agosto de 1823, mientras exploraba cerca de las fuentes del río Grand, en el actual condado de Perkins, Glass sorprendió a una osa grizzly con sus dos cachorros. Antes de que pudiera disparar su fusil, la osa lo atacó y derribó al suelo. Glass se levantó y con su cuchillo trató de apuñalarla, aunque el animal lo atacó con sus zarpas una y otra vez.
Glass consiguió matar a la osa con la ayuda de dos de sus compañeros, Fitzgerald y Bridger, pero quedó gravemente herido e incapaz de caminar. Cuando Glass perdió el conocimiento, Henry estaba convencido de que no sobreviviría a las heridas. Henry pidió dos voluntarios para quedarse con Glass hasta que muriera, para luego enterrarlo. Bridger (con 17 años) y Fitzgerald se ofrecieron, y el resto de la expedición siguió. Comenzaron a cavar su tumba y, como explicaron más tarde, al verse interrumpidos por un ataque de indios arikaras, cogieron el fusil, el cuchillo y otras pertenencias de Glass y se fueron. Bridger y Fitzgerald informaron a Henry, erróneamente, de que Glass había muerto.

La odisea del fuerte Kiowa

A pesar de sus heridas, Glass recuperó la consciencia. Lo hizo solo para encontrarse abandonado, sin armas ni equipo, con tremendos dolores, una pierna rota, cortes en la espalda desnuda que dejaban al aire sus costillas y todas sus heridas infectadas. Glass se sintió cojo y mutilado a más de 200 millas (320 km) del punto más cercano, el Fuerte Kiowa, en Misuri.
En uno de los más notables viajes que se han conocido, Glass curó su propia pierna, envuelta por una mortaja que le habían puesto sus amigos encima de la herida que le ocasionó el oso, y comenzó a arrastrarse. Para evitar la gangrena, Glass puso sobre sus heridas una podredumbre de restos y dejó que los gusanos comieran la carne muerta.
Decidió que seguir el río Grand sería demasiado peligroso a causa de la hostilidad de los indios y siguió por tierra hacia el sur, hacia el río Cheyenne, llevándole seis semanas alcanzarlo. Glass sobrevivió comiendo mayormente bayas silvestres y raíces. En una ocasión fue capaz de espantar dos lobos que comían un joven bisonte y se dio un festín de carne. Al llegar al río Cheyenne, hizo una rudimentaria balsa y descendió por el río usando como referencia el prominente hito paisajístico de Thunder Butte. Ayudado por unos nativos amistosos que le cosieron las heridas de la espalda que le había hecho la osa, Glass llegó finalmente a la seguridad del Fuerte Kiowa.
Después de una larga recuperación, Glass se propuso localizar y vengarse de Bridger y de Fitzgerald. Cuando encontró a Bridger, en el actual Parque de Yellowstone, cerca de la desembocadura del río Bighorn, Glass no le hizo nada supuestamente a causa de su juventud. Cuando encontró a Fitzgerald y descubrió que se había incorporado al Ejército de los Estados Unidos, Glass supuestamente se refrenó, porque matar a un soldado de los EE.UU. estaba condenado a la muerte. Sin embargo, le hizo devolver su fusil perdido.

Encuentro con los arikara

Glass y otros cuatro hombres fueron enviados por Ashley para encontrar una nueva ruta trampera, remontando el río Powder, y después cruzando hasta el río Platte y descendendiendo hasta los riscos (bluffs). La partida partió en una bullboat, una especie de canoa con un armazón muy ligero de madera recubierto con pieles. Cerca del cruce con el río Laramie, descubrieron a unos treinta y ocho indios descansando, con varios indios en la orilla. Parecían ser amigables y los cazadores creyeron inicialmente que eran pawnees. Decidieron ir a tierra para comer con ellos, pero Glass descubrió que los indios en realidad pertenecían a la nación arikara que, después de varios encuentros, eran cualquier cosa menos amistosos con los blancos. El grupo rápidamente corrió hacia la bullboat y remaron hacia la orilla opuesta. Los indios nadaron tras ellos con rapidez y alcanzaron la orilla a la vez. Dos hombres, Marsh y Dutton, tuvieron suerte de huir y reunirse más tarde. Los otros dos, More y Chapman, fueron rápidamente atrapados y sacrificados. Glass tuvo la suerte de encontrar un grupo de rocas en el que se escondió, y no fue descubierto por los arikaras. Glass llevaba su cuchillo y pedernal en su bolsa. Emprendió el camino de regreso al Fuerte Kiowa y encontró un grupo de sioux, viajando con ellos hasta el fuerte.
La odisea de supervivencia de Glass ha sido contada en numerosos libros. Se le erigió un monumento cerca del lugar donde fue atacado por la osa, en la orilla sur del embalse Shadehill, en las fuentes del río Grand.

Últimos años

Glass, una vez más, volvió a la frontera como cazador y comerciante de pieles. Más tarde fue empleado como cazador en la guarnición del Fuerte Unión. Fue asesinado, junto con otros dos compañeros cazadores, en el invierno de 1833 en el río Yellowstone, en un ataque de los arikara.
Según el libro The Deaths of the Bravos (Las muertes de los Bravos), de John Myers Myers, los arikara en abril de 1833 más tarde intentaron hacerse pasar como amistosos indios Minitaris a una partida de tramperos al servicio de la American Fur Company. Sin embargo, Johnson Gardner, uno de los tramperos, reconoció un rifle que uno de los indios tenía como el mismo rifle de Glass que Fitzgerald le devolvió después de su épico viaje de venganza siguiendo a Fitzgerald y Bridger cuando lo dieron por muerto en 1823. Alarmado por ello, Gardner pensó que eran los mismos arikara que habían matado a Glass y sus compañeros. Fueron capturados y luego ejecutados en venganza por la muerte de Hugh Glass.

Bibliografía

The Song of Hugh Glass (parte de A Cycle of the West), de John G. Neihardt (1915).
Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the American West, de Dale L. Morgan (1952).
Lord Grizzly, de Fredrick Manfred (1954) ISBN 0-8032-8118-8.
Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee and Mountain Man, de John Myers Myers (1976) ISBN 0-8032-5834-8.
Hugh Glass, Mountain Man, de Robert M. McClung (1990) ISBN 0-688-08092-8.
Wilderness, de Roger Zelazny y Gerald Hausman (1994) ISBN 0-312-85654-7.
Hugh Glass, de Bruce Bradley (1999) ISBN 0-9669005-0-2.
The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, de Michael Punke (2002) ISBN 0-7867-1027-6 .

James "Grizzly" Adams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Grizzly Adams" redirects here. For other uses, see Grizzly Adams (disambiguation).

"Grizzly" Adams, with his bear Benjamin Franklin, from Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine 1860

John "Grizzly" Adams (also known as James Capen Adams and Grizzly Adams) (1812–1860) was a famous California mountain man and trainer of grizzly bears and other wild animals he captured for menageries, zoological gardens and circuses. When Theodore H. Hittell^[1] met Adams in 1856 at Adams' Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco, California, Adams first represented himself as William Adams,^[2] then a short time later told Hittell (also incorrectly) his name was James Capen Adams, an alias he maintained until 1860. He also told Hittell he was born on October 20, 1807, in Maine.^[3]^[4]

In the 1970s the motion picture The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams starring Dan Haggerty was released. An NBC TV series of the same name starring Haggerty followed. Eventually the Grizzly Adams brand was trademarked by the film and television series creator Charles E. Sellier, Jr.

Sellier's 1970s movie and TV series used the same "James Capen Adams" name incorrectly conveyed by Hittell. The real John Adams did not have a middle name. His mother's maiden surname was 'Capen.' He did, however, actually have a younger brother named James Capen Adams.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Information on his Massachusetts death record (Vol. 139, p. 225) also indicates that his name was John and gives an estimated birth year of 1813, based on age at death (48 years). His tombstone lists his first name as John and his date of death as October 25, 1860, age 48 years.,^[9]

Early years[edit]

Born and raised in Medway, Massachusetts,^[10] a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, he received an education typical of the era. Adams began as an apprentice in the footwear manufacturing industry at age fourteen. He was of English ancestry.^[11]^[12] At age twenty-one, he left that occupation, seeking to satisfy his true love - the outdoors and nature. He signed on with a company of showmen as a zoological collector. James hunted and captured live wild animals in the wildest parts of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, where he honed his woodsman, survival, and marksmanship skills. However, Adams told Hittell his hunting and trapping career ended abruptly when he received severe back and spine injuries from a Bengal tiger he was attempting to train for his employers.^[13]^[14] Not wanting to become a burden on his family, after a year of recuperating he returned to his cobbler’s bench in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1836, James married Cylena Drury and they had three children: Arabella, Arathusa, and Seymour.^[15]

California and Western States - 1849-1860[edit]

In 1849 with the California Gold Rush in progress, John invested his life savings of over $6,000 to buy a large supply of footwear, and had it shipped to St. Louis, Missouri. He intended to sell his goods at great profit to the thousands of forty-niners passing through St. Louis. Through no fault of his own, he lost the entire investment in the St. Louis wharf fire. Shortly thereafter, John's father committed suicide^[16] - he may also have invested heavily in John's scheme. At this point, John felt he had nothing to lose. He had a touch of gold fever and a yearning for adventure. He knew even if he failed to recoup his lost investment in the mines, he could at least support himself by hunting and trapping in the untapped wilds of California. He left his family and relatives behind in Massachusetts and joined the 49ers on their way to California. On his journey via the Santa Fe and Gila trails he twice survived near fatal illnesses, and arrived at the gold fields of California late in 1849.^[17]

Adams tried his luck at mining, hunting game to sell to the miners, trading, and finally, ranching and farming. At times he was rich and then, just as quickly, broke. Late in 1852, having lost his ranch outside of Stockton, Californiato creditors, he took the few items he could salvage and headed into the Sierra Nevada mountains to get away from it all. With the help of the local Miwok Indians, Adams built a cabin and stable and spent the winter alone in theSierra.^[18] John was an expert hunter and his New England training in shoemaking and leather craft gave him the necessary skills to fashion buckskin clothing and moccasins (the clothing he adopted as normal attire for the remainder of his life). He also made his own harness, pack saddles, snowshoes and other items he needed.^[19]

John didn't stay in California all the time. He traveled great distances from his California base camp on foot, on horse or mule, or in an ox-drawn wagon. In 1853, he made a hunting and trapping expedition some 1,200 miles from his base camp in California to eastern Washington Territory (what is now western Montana).^[20] While there, he caught a yearling female grizzly that he named Lady Washington.^[21]^[22] Even though she was already a year old and very wild, he managed to tame her and taught her to follow him without restraint.^[23] Later, he trained her to carry a pack and then to pull a loaded sled. She even cuddled up near John to keep him warm in freezing conditions. Eventually, Lady Washington allowed John to ride on her back.

In 1854, Adams retrieved a pair of two-week-old male grizzly cubs from the den of their mother near Yosemite Valley.^[24]^[25] He named one of them Benjamin Franklin. Ben saved John's life a year later in 1855, when a mother grizzly attacked Adams.^[26]^[27]^[28] John and Ben both bore the scars of that attack the rest of their lives.^[29] The head injury John received in the attack led to his demise five years later. In the summer of 1854, John traveled to theRocky Mountains to hunt and collect more live animals.^[30]^[31]^[32] He and his hunting companions sold meat, hides and some live animals to the emigrants along the Emigrant Trails near where the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail split away from each other (southwestern Wyoming). They also sold and traded at Fort Bridger, Wyoming and Fort Supply. During this expedition, Lady Washington had an amorous encounter with a Rocky Mountain grizzly.^[33] The mating resulted in a male cub that was born the next year when she was with Adams in Corral Hollow on the eastern side of the California coastal mountains. Adams christened her cub General Fremont, in honor ofJohn C. Fremont.^[34]

In the winter of 1854, Grizzly Adams captured a huge California grizzly in the largest cage trap Adams had ever constructed.^[35] John named him Samson.^[36]^[37] When the monster bear was later weighed on a hay scale, it tipped the beam at 1,500 pounds (one of the largest grizzly bears ever captured alive).^[38]

During 1855, Adams and his companions hunted and trapped game in the California Coast Range mountains, journeyed to the Kern River mines, then proceeded southward to the Tehachapi Mountains and Tejon Pass. Returning from the Tejon Pass area, Adams followed the Old Spanish Route via San Miguel and San Jose.^[39] Due to interest of the curious people the group met, John set up impromptu shows of his bears and other animals he had collected on his summer excursion. These shows, a precursor to his circus career, were conducted in San Miguel, Santa Clara, San Jose, the redwoods and finally San Francisco.^[40]

In 1856, John retrieved all of his animals from Howard's Ranch near Stockton, California where he had left them to be cared for while he was absent. He then opened the Mountaineer Museum in a basement on Clay Street in San Francisco.^[41] Due to notices T. H. Hittell printed in the San Francisco daily Evening Bulletin, Adams' show drew many more patrons. Soon thereafter, Adams was able to move his menagerie and museum, now called the Pacific Museum to a better location. The new building could accommodate larger audiences and house more animals and displays. By 1858, he was referred to as the "Barnum of the Pacific," in a San Francisco newspaper.^[42] In January, 1858, tragedy struck when noble Ben, John's favorite grizzly, died of an illness for which no remedy could be found. Adams was devastated at the loss, but continued to show his animals daily. He also continuously added more animals and other attractions to his museum. In 1859, due to such over extensions, he lost his museum building to creditors. However, he was able to save most of his menagerie, which he relocated temporarily to another building.^[43]

Grizzly Adams' health was deteriorating and he knew his life would soon end. Since he had been away from his wife in Massachusetts for over ten years, he wanted to earn enough before he died to leave her a comfortable sum. He made arrangements to relocate his menagerie and collections to New York, in hopes of joining P.T. Barnum as a part of his show.^[44]^[45] On January 7, 1860, Adams and his menagerie departed from San Francisco on the clipper ship Golden Fleece on their way to New York City via Cape Horn, a 3 ¹⁄₂-month voyage.^[46]

In New York City, Grizzly Adams, still representing himself as James Capen Adams, joined with P.T. Barnum to perform his California Menagerie in a canvas tent for six weeks. His health continued to decline and after a doctor told him he had better settle his affairs, Adams decided he would sell his menagerie to Barnum. However, disregarding his doctor's prognosis, he managed to persuade Barnum to agree to let him perform his animals for another ten-weeks for a $500 bonus. The plucky Adams' willpower held out for the full contract, though at the end he could hardly walk onto the stage. From the proceeds of the sale of the menagerie and the bonus, he had accomplished his goal of providing a comfortable sum for his wife.^[47]

Death[edit]

In 1855, Adams suffered head and neck trauma during a grizzly attack in the Sierras of California. His scalp was dislodged, and he was left with a silver dollar-sized impression in his skull, just above his forehead. Adams had made pets of several grizzlies, and often wrestled with them while training them and in exhibitions. During one such bout, his most delinquent grizzly, General Fremont (named for John C. Fremont), struck Adams in the head and reopened the wound. It was subsequently reinjured several times, eventually leaving Adams' brain tissue exposed.

The damage was further exacerbated while Adams was on tour with a circus in New England during the summer of 1860, when a monkey he was attempting to train purportedly bit into the wound.^[48] After more than four months performing with his California Menagerie, complications from the injury led to Adams' inability to continue with the show. After completing his contract with P.T. Barnum, he retired to Neponset, Massachusetts, where he died of illness (possibly meningitis) just five days after arriving at the home of his wife and daughter. Upon hearing of Adams' death, Barnum was deeply grieved.

Adams was interred at the Bay Path Cemetery in Charlton, Massachusetts. It is believed P.T. Barnum commissioned the creation of his tombstone. Also buried there nearby are his mother, father, a sister, his wife, his son and one of his two daughters.^[49]

Association with Theodore H. Hittell and Charles C. Nahl[edit]

During Grizzly Adams' exhibition of his grizzly bears and other trained animals in San Francisco, he was working with Hittell from July, 1857 until December 1859. Hittell listened to Adams narrate his adventures almost daily for an hour or so and took careful notes, cross-questioning Adams to assure he had it straight. Adams knew, and was apparently flattered by the fact Mr. Hittell intended to write a book based upon Adams' talks.^[50] Also, during this time, the artist Charles C. Nahl took an interest in Adams' grizzlies and, working with Hittell, prepared illustrations (one of which is at the head of this article) that would be used in Hittell's forthcoming book. One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California's state flag.^[51]^[52] In 1860, after Adams had relocated to New York, Theodore H. Hittell published his book, The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California, in San Francisco,^[53] and then later that year, in Boston.

Association with circus people[edit]

In 1833, John Adams hired on as a wild animal collector with a group of showmen. Several menageries were active in the New England area at this time, probably the largest was the June, Titus Company's National Menagerieaka, Grand National Menagerie.^[54]^[55] Boston, Massachusetts was the venue for many such menageries while Adams was living there, so he had the opportunity to meet and interact with the proprietors and performers. There were also circuses and menageries on the Pacific Coast when John reached California, one of which was the Joseph A. Rowe Olympic Circus that performed in San Francisco and Sacramento, California at the time he arrived.^[56]^[57] On two occasions, Adams told Hittell he had contact with an acquaintance from New England. This person most likely was in some way connected to the circus/menagerie business. Adams told Hittell that the man was his brother, "William," although Adams didn't have a brother by that name.^[58] According to Earle Williams,^[59] the property that Adams ranched near Stockton, California in 1852 was the same land that was later acquired by Henry C. Lee^[60] and John R. Marshall,^[61]^[62] proprietors of the Lee and Marshall Circus.^[63] Lee hired a man by the name of David Howard to run the ranch which was about eight-miles southeast of Stockton, on Mariposa road. Grizzly Adams often left his stock and captured animals at "Howard's Ranch" to be cared for by Howard and Lee's circus people.^[64] Lee's circus used the ranch to keep their circus stock, wagons and other items in the circus' winter off-season. According to Williams^[65] when Grizzly Adams established his Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco, in 1856, the menagerie was a part of Lee's Circus, as a side show. Adams and a couple of his bears appeared with Rowe's Pioneer Circus in November.^[66] In 1857, Adams had a partner named Sheppard.^[67] In 1859, T. W. Tanner was a partner with Adams (this may have been the man who owned a half-interest in Adams'Pacific Museum, prior to Adams leaving for New York in January, 1860). When Adams arrived in New York City in April 1860, he discovered while talking with P.T. Barnum, that Barnum had bought the one-half interest of Adams'California Menagerie, (possibly from Tanner). On April 30, 1860, Adams and Barnum opened the California Menagerie in a canvas tent on the corner of Broadway and Fourth Street in New York City^[68]^[69]^[70] The show ran for six weeks. Adams health was failing, and he sold the remaining interest in the menagerie to Barnum. Adams then went on a summer tour of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire as part of Nixon & Company's Circus.^[71]He continued to perform with his bears and other trained animals until late October, 1860.

Ties to the Famous Adams Family of New England[edit]

John Adams was a member of the Adams family of New England that included many important men and women who contributed to the founding and early history of the United States. His great-great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Adams (1583–1646), emigrated with his family from England to Boston, Massachusetts in 1632, and thus established the famous Adams family in America.^[72] Henry's descendants include the patriot, Samuel Adams and two presidents, John Adams and President Adams' son, John Quincy Adams. Grizzly was born in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, and was surrounded by relatives and cousins. During Grizzly Adams' childhood, President John Adams lived within a short buggy ride of him in Quincy, Massachusetts.^[73]^[74] John Adams was the third child and first son born to Eleazer Adams (1776–1849) and Sybil (Capen) Adams (1785–1844).^[75] He had seven siblings, Susan B., Almy, Charles, James Capen, Zilpha, Francis and Albert. John married Cylena Drury in 1836. They had three children: Arabella, Arathusa Elizabeth, and Seymour. His son, Seymour, never married, so there were no male descendants of Grizzly Adams bearing the Adams surname. John's younger brother, James Capen Adams, (the alias used by "Grizzly" Adams), married and fathered seven children. Curiously, when Grizzly Adams toured in Connecticut with the circus during the summer of 1860, his brother (the real) James Capen Adams and his family were living in Norfolk, Connecticut at the time.^[76]

Legacy[edit]

John "Grizzly" Adams in his few years of hunting, accomplished astonishing feats. He is considered to be "the greatest California mountain man of them all," by Dillon^[77] and the "Fabulous Mr. 'Grizzly' Adams," by McCracken.^[78]Modern hunters with high-powered precision weapons rarely get up close and personal with their game the way Adams did. He never hesitated to resort to hand-to-paw or knife-to-claw combat when necessary. He captured more grizzlies alive in those few years than any other man has.^[79] In addition, he captured a wide variety of other wild animals, totaling in the hundreds, for menageries and zoos. Although Grizzly Adams did kill a number of bears, including grizzlies, he did so for food or their furs and hides. He was not a conservationist as the term is used in modern times. He did, however, genuinely love the outdoors and its wildlife and unspoiled nature; he hated waste.^[80]The Western Hall of Fame honored Adams in 1911 with the "Heroes of California" honor. This included James Capen Adams.

Zoological gardens[edit]

His Mountaineer Menagerie, established the largest collection of live and mounted animal specimens on the West Coast. His collection became the Pacific Museum in San Francisco. There, he and his animals entertained and educated countless numbers of people from far and wide. He was referred to as "the Barnum of the Pacific" in an article published in a San Francisco newspaper.^[81] His exhibitions also inspired others to campaign for the establishment of zoos. Woodward's Gardens, and later, the famous Fleishhacker Zoo were established in San Francisco. On the East Coast, the Zoological Gardens in New York's Central Park was established in 1860 and in 1899 the Bronx Zoo was opened.^[82]

California's flag[edit]

Charles C. Nahl, using Adams' grizzlies as models for his depictions, made some drawings, etchings and paintings of grizzly bears in various scenes. His sketches (including the one at the top of this article) were used to illustrate Hittel's book about Adams.^[83]^[84] Nahl's 1855 painting of a California grizzly bear, displaying the likeness of Adams' bear, 'Samson' the mountain man had brought to San Jose and San Francisco to display that year, ended up being the bear image used during the creation of the flags for California. The official California flag design specifications were put into law in 1953.^[85]^[86] The legislation also established the grizzly as California's state land animal.

Observations of grizzlies[edit]

Although not educated as a naturalist in a college or university, Adams learned the habits and facts of grizzly life first hand, through his observations while hunting and trapping them. John knew more about the California grizzly bear than any other man.^[87] The information that Adams narrated to Hittell was published in Hittell's book.^[88]^[89] This lore has been very useful to naturalists including Storer,^[90] and Wright,^[91] as well as to historians.^[92]

Media presentations[edit]

Adams was a famed United States outdoorsman, animal collector/trainer and an owner/performer in his own menagerie and later a partner of P. T. Barnum's shows. A biography was published about Adams the year he died.^[93]He was the central character in Charles E. Sellier's 1972 novel The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. As a character in film and television, Adams has been played by:

John Huston in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Dan Haggerty in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1974, 1977–1978, 1982)
Gene Edwards in The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990)
Tom Tayback in Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain (1999)
Jeff Watson in P.T. Barnum (1999)

Doug Peacock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doug Peacock is an American naturalist, outdoorsman, and author. He is best known for his book Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness, a memoir of his experiences in the 1970s and 1980s, much of which was spent alone in the wilderness of the western United States observing grizzly bears.

Peacock was born in Alma, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan. He served as a Green Beret combat medic during the Vietnam War and, upon returning, felt so disillusioned with human society that he sought solace in the beauty of the wilderness. Although he had little scientific background, his passion for and firsthand experience with bears soon brought him recognition as an expert in grizzly behavior. He was a friend of author Edward Abbey, and served as the model for the character George Hayduke in Abbey's famous novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Peacock's 2005 book, Walking it Off: A Veteran's Chronicle of War And Wilderness, continues his memoirs, in the wake of Ed Abbey's death. He ventured into the southwest deserts to walk off the scars left by his friend's death. In the process, he revisited Vietnam in flashbacks, remembering the cantankerous friendship with Abbey, and almost died in his journey to recover from "this terminal disease called life" in Nepal with his friends Alan Burgess and Dennis Sizemore.

Peacock is also friend of American Author Rick Bass. In Bass's book "The Lost Grizzlies: A Search for Survivors in the Wilderness of Colorado" Peacock is a key element in the search for evidence that there are still grizzlies in the San Juan Mountains.

Peacock was a 2007 Guggenheim fellow, and currently lives in Montana with his wife Andrea, author of Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation. Peacock speaks in schools about wilderness, conservation, and the need to preserve our wilderness. Doug is the chairman of the board of trustees for Round River Conservation Studies.

Doug and Andrea Peacock's new book, The Essential Grizzly: The Mingled Fates of Men and Bears was released on May 1, 2006 (Lyons Press, ISBN 1-59228-848-0). It has been reissued in paperback under a new title, "In the Presence of Grizzlies: The Ancient Bond Between Men and Bears" in March 2009. (Lyons Press, ISBN 1-59921-490-3)

Books[edit]

Peacock, Doug. The Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness, Henry Holt & Co., 1990. (ISBN 0-8050-0448-3)

Peacock, Doug. Baja, Bulfinch Press, 1991 (ISBN 0821218034)

Peacock, Doug. Walking It Off: A Veteran's Chronicle of War And Wilderness, Ewu Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-910055-99-8)

Peacock, Doug and Edward Abbey. "The Best of Edward Abbey", Sierra Club Books, 2005 (ISBN 1578051215)

Peacock, Doug and Andrea Peacock. The Essential Grizzly: The Mingled Fates of Men and Bears, Lyons Press, 2006. (ISBN 1-59228-848-0)

Peacock, Doug. In the Shadow of the Sabertooth: A Renegade Naturalist Considers Global Warming, the First Americans, and the Terrible Beasts of the Pleistocene. AK Press, 2013. (ISBN 978-1-84935-140-9)

References[edit]

"Q&A: Doug Peacock,Veteran of the Grizzly Wars", National Geographic Adventure Magazine, July/August 2002.UCSC Currents online

Newman, John. "Nature writer Doug Peacock to tell of grizzlies, wilderness, and survival", UC Santa Cruz, Currents online, April 23, 2001.

External links[edit]

Doug Peacock Official Website

Author papers at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

Works by or about Doug Peacock in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

National Geographic Adventure Questions and Answers with Doug Peacock, at National Geographic Adventure.

Doug Peacock: The World Needs Ed Abbey Now at New West Network.

Doug Peacock on “Walking It Off: A Veteran’s Chronicle of War and Wilderness” on Democracy Now! May 12, 2009

Bart the Bear

Bart the Bear

Nombre de nacimiento	Bart the Bear
Nacimiento	Baltimore, Maryland,Estados Unidos 19 de enero de 1977
Fallecimiento	Park City, Utah, Estados Unidos 10 de mayo de 2000(23 años)
Ocupación	Oso Actor
Ficha en IMDb
[editar datos en Wikidata]

Bart the Bear (Baltimore, Maryland, Estados Unidos, 19 de enero de 1977 - Park City, Utah, Estados Unidos, 10 de mayo del 2000) era un oso Kodiak macho nacido en Alaska que apareció en varias películas de Hollywood. Previamente, su madre apareció en los filmes Grizzly y Day of the Animals. Bart fue entrenado por Doug Seus y Lynne Seus de Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc., en la ciudad de Herber, Utah. De adulto medía 2,90 m y pesaba 816 kg.

Actores tales como John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Annette Bening, Ethan Hawke, Steven Seagal, Gregory Peck, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin y Anthony Hopkins se vieron enfrentados al oso en películas.

En el 2000, Bart murió de cáncer a la edad de 23, mientras se encontraba filmando el documental de televisión Growing Up Grizzly (2001) presentado por Brad Pitt, quien actuó con Bart en Legends of the Fall.

Little Bart the Bear es un homónimo de Bart. Little Bart nació en el 2000 en Alaska, es otro oso Kodiak entrenado por Doug y Lynne Seus. Apareció en Dr. Dolittle 2, y en episodios de las series CSI y Scrubs. También tuvo roles prominentes en las películas Without a Paddle, An Unfinished Life y en Into the Wild.

Filmografía[editar]

Doug Seus, One of Hollywood’s Foremost Animal Trainers

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Justin Stakes

By Justin Stakes

AmmoLand Gun News

United States -(Ammoland.com)- For Doug Seus, coming face to face with fearsome predators is all in a day’s work for the 71 year old professional animal trainer.

Doug Seus is one of Hollywood’s premier animal trainers and owner of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife Inc. and the Vital Ground Foundation.

Seus is an exceptionally unique outdoorsman who has turned his adorned love and passion for wildlife into a legendary career. He’s one of the few and rare individuals in our world that has demonstrated his inherently unique ability to interact with these majestic creatures in such an incredible way.

Established in 1973, Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife Inc. was created by Doug and Lynne Seus who continued to follow their hearts’ dream of dedicating their lives to the training and care of wildlife. The couple initially began the operation with cats, dogs, wolves and horses, they continued to expand their wildlife skills and knowledge to include wildlife stars such as bobcats, coyotes, cougars, deer, eagles, foxes, hawks, raccoons, and skunks.

But no animal would become a true star while capturing the hearts of millions quite like the legendary actor Bart the Bear.

Since his birth on January 19, 1977, Bart the Bear was destined to live out his 23 1/2 years traversing the world to become one of Hollywood’s most beloved wildlife actors in the film industry. An Alaskan Brown Bear born in Baltimore, Maryland, Bart came to Doug and Lynne Seus as a five-pound cub; quickly growing over 1,500 pounds while standing 9 1/2 feet tall.

Bart enjoyed the spotlight as much as he adorned the cheers and applause he would receive from his fellow crew members on set.

Vital Ground Bear — Vital Ground continues to protect all species of Bear

Bart the Bear’s legacy goes well beyond his career in the film industry. He was host for the Animal Cancer Center located at Colorado State University in addition to Ambassador of the Vital Ground Foundation; a conservation group dedicated to grizzly bear as well as wildlife conservation in honor of Bart. Vital Ground has continued to protect threatened wildlife habitats located throughout Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana.

Bart the Bear died of cancer surrounded by his family and friends in Utah on May 10, 2000 during the filming of the documentary Growing Up Grizzly, which was presented by Brad Pitt.

With Bart’s legacy at an end, the Seus family was blessed with two orphaned cubs that miraculously survived alone for two days in Anchorage, Alaska. The Alaska Fish and Game rescued the deprived cubs after their mother was shot in Paxson, Alaska; 200 miles north of Anchorage.

The cubs continue to follow in Bart’s legendary footsteps, bring enjoyment to the lives and hearts of millions of viewers from across the world through their roles in film, television and even live performances. The female cub was named Honeybumb, while the male cub; Bart The Bear II, was honored with Bart’s legacy and namesake.

Bart the Bear’s Feature Films

Windwalker; Pacific International Enterprises, 1980

Clan of the Cave Bear; Warner Brothers, 1984

The Bear; Tri Star Renn Productions, 1987

The Great Outdoors; Universal, 1988

Giant of Thunder Mountain; American Happenings, 1990

The Great American West; IMAX, 1991

White Fang; Disney, 1992

On Deadly Ground; Warner Brothers, 1993

Walking Thunder, 1993

Yellowstone; IMAX, 1994

Legends of the Fall; Tri Star, 1995

The Edge; 20th Century Fox, 1996

Meet the Deedles; Disney, 1997

Bart the Bear’s Television Movies, Mini-Series and Episodes

The Gambler; CBS TV, 1980

Down the Long Hills; Disney, 1986

Lost in the Barrens, 1990

McKenna; CBS, 1994

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, 1994

Young Riders, episode “The Decoy”; MGM TV, 1995

Lonesome Dove, Episode “Deadman’s Walk”; ABC TV, 1996

Les Amants de Rivière Rouge; French TV mini-series, 1996

Academy Awards; Host, 1998

Bart the Bear’s Documentaries

The Predators; National Geographic Education, 1980

National Geographic “The Grizzlies,” 1986

National Audubon Society, “Grizzly & Man: Uneasy Truce,” 1988

Today Show, 1989

Komo TV, “River of Bears,” 1995

Entertainment Tonight, 1995

Inside Edition, 1996

Jack Hanna’s “Animal Adventures,” 1996

Discovery Electric, “Wild on the Set,” 1996

“Ordinary Extraordinary,” 1996

Nova Green Umbrella, “Animal Minds,” 1997

CNN Impact, “Bearly Acting,” 1997

Movie Magic, “Animals on the Rampage,” 1997

National Geographic Explorer, 1997

CBS’ 48 Hours, “Animal Smarts,” 1999

Bart has an impressive cinematic pedigree having worked with stars such as Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Film directors Jean Jacques Annaud and Lee Tamahori have even said to have called Bart the “John Wayne of Bears.”

“About 95% of what you see in the film is a real bear, even though we had a major anamatronic bear built for the film, it never worked properly. The real bear’s name is Bart. He’s 19 years old. He’s the same one from the Jean-Jacques Annaud film The Bear. He’s not friendly, they never are. But he’s not aggressive, either. He just 1400 pounds of muscle and bone and very dangerous. You’re not allowed near him…It’s a wonderful sort of professional relationship. He comes out of his trailer, goes to his mark, does the take and goes back to his trailer. He’s the John Wayne of bears, just phenomenal! He and his trainer have this symbiotic relationship that’s almost perverse. He has to stand in for Hopkins or Baldwin, or whoever else is in the scene with Bart,” stated Lee Tamahori during a discussion with Alex Simon and Venice Magazine.

Since reaching new heights in animal performance with Bart’s starring role in the 1989 classic, The Bear, Doug and Lynne Seus began to further their specialization and expertise in kodiak bears, grizzly bears, and wolves.

Wildlife training is an art form that requires the trainers to have immense patience, compassion and understanding when it comes to the animals. The entire Seus family; including their daughter Sausha and son Jed, pride themselves with providing Hollywood and the film industry with their most highly skilled and trained animal stars. Doug and Lynne Seus provide Hollywood and the film industry with bears and wolves that are exceedingly capable of not only unique behaviors and commands, but also portrayal and characterization.

Doug currently resides at home with his wife Lynee Seus along with his three star bears Bart The Bear II, Honeybump, and Tank where they train their animals in such an efficacious manner that when it comes time to shoot a scene it is shot successfully the first time around. Saving Doug and the film director he is working with hours of production time; one of the inherent qualities of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife that portrays them as one of the most cost effective and professional animal companies available.

Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife has provided talented animal stars for the film industry for over 40 years. Their cinematic history includes twenty-five major motion pictures and hundreds of commercials, documentaries, and Tv Shows including An Unfinished Life, Dr. Do Little 2, Evan Almighty, Legends of the Fall, Into the Wild, The Great Outdoors, We Bought a Zoo, Without a Paddle , Zookeeper, and their most notable appearance with Bart The Bear II in HBO’s Game of Thrones television series.

Article by Justin Stakes
Copyright @ J. Stakes Photography

Justin Stakes is a Freelance Photographer and Journalist dealing with a variety of different subjects that interest and inspire his love for the great outdoors and more. Justin is an avid outdoor enthusiast and geek with a photographic style that is a mixture of photojournalism and fine art. He has won three Photo Show Competitions throughout his education and has even been exhibited in the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art.

Read more: http://www.ammoland.com/2014/09/doug-seus-one-of-hollywoods-foremost-animal-trainers/#ixzz3uCaaPmRY
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook

Timothy Treadwell

Timothy Treadwell (29 de abril de 1957 – 5 de octubre de 2003) fue un activista ecologista y documentalista aficionado que adquirió notoriedad tras morir devorado por uno de los osos grizzly con los que había convivido durante trece veranos en el Parque Nacional de Katmai.¹ En 2005, el cineasta Werner Herzog estrenó Grizzly Man, un documental acerca de la vida de Treadwell que incluía varias de las grabaciones realizadas por este mismo durante su estancia en Alaska.

Inicios[editar]

Treadwell (nacido con el nombre de Timothy Dexter en Long Island, Estados Unidos) era un aspirante a actor que se vio envuelto en el mundo de las drogas tras la decepción que supuso para él no conseguir un papel en la serie Cheers (según sus propias palabras, quedó segundo en el casting,² siendo superado solo por Woody Harrelson, aunque este hecho nunca ha sido confirmado). Supuestamente, Treadwell superó su adicción a las drogas y al alcohol a finales de los 80, tras lo cual decidió viajar a Alaska en busca de una relación más profunda con la naturaleza y con el mundo animal.

Relación con los osos y notoriedad[editar]

Timothy Treadwell convivió durante trece años con osos grizzly del Parque Nacional de Katmai. En Estados Unidos era conocido por acercarse a ellos mucho más de lo recomendado por las autoridades, hasta el punto de llegar a veces incluso a tocarlos o a jugar con ellos. También grabó alrededor de cien horas de vídeo en las que se ve a él interactuar con los animales, y realizó numerosas fotografías de la zona. Para el comienzo del nuevo siglo, Treadwell era lo bastante popular como para empezar a recibir una atención continuada por parte de los medios. Apareció en el Discovery Channel, en el Talk Show de David Letterman y en otros programas de televisión hablando acerca de sus experiencias y de su postura ecologista. También viajó a lo largo de los Estados Unidos dando charlas gratuitas a los niños, escribió junto a Jewel Palovak el libro Among Grizzlies: Living with Wild Bears in Alaska y fundó la asociación Grizzly People, destinada a proteger a los osos y preservar su hábitat salvaje.¹

Polémica[editar]

Numerosos expertos, entre los que se encuentran miembros del propio Servicio de Parques Nacionales, han criticado duramente a Treadwell por no respetar las normas básicas de seguridad en un entorno de estas características. En concreto, y de acuerdo con el archivo que se guardaba con respecto a él, Timothy Treadwell violó entre 1994 y 2003 al menos seis normas del parque. Entre estos incumplimientos están el de guiar a turistas sin poseer la licencia apropiada, almacenar de modo incorrecto la comida o acampar en el mismo lugar durante más de siete días (esta última a menudo conocida como la «regla Treadwell», una norma creada ad hoc, específicamente para él). Asimismo, los guardabosques también insistían en que llevase un spray de pimienta como arma de defensa personal, crítica en la que coincidía el naturalista Charlie Russell, otro experto en la convivencia con los osos.

Muerte[editar]

Timothy Treadwell murió el 5 de octubre de 2003 en compañía de su novia, Amie Huguenard. Ambos fueron devorados por uno o más osos grizzly, y sus cadáveres los descubrió al día siguiente Willy Fulton, el piloto que tenía el encargo de ir a recogerlos. Parte de sus restos fueron encontrados en el lugar de la matanza y otra parte en el interior de uno de los osos que los devoró, el etiquetado como «oso 141», un macho de gran tamaño y que el propio Timothy consideraba, de acuerdo con sus grabaciones, como un animal peligroso y no precisamente amistoso. Este oso y otro más joven fueron abatidos a tiros por los guardabosques durante la operación de recuperación de los restos humanos. También se encontró una cámara de vídeo con la tapa de la lente todavía puesta, que supuestamente había grabado seis minutos de audio correspondiente al ataque.² En los ochenta y cinco años de existencia del Parque Nacional de Katmai, este ha sido el primer caso de ser humano muerto a garras de un oso.¹

Grizzly Man[editar]

Artículo principal: Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man es un documental del director de cine alemán Werner Herzog. Está basado en la vida de Treadwell y compuesto principalmente por las grabaciones que este mismo realizó durante sus estancias en Alaska. Herzog acompaña las imágenes de archivo con entrevistas a personas que lo conocieron, así como con reflexiones personales en las que se cuestiona diversos aspectos de la naturaleza y el espíritu humano. En un momento de la película se puede ver al veterano cineasta alemán escuchando la cinta que supuestamente da testimonio de la muerte de Timothy y Amie, aunque el espectador no puede escuchar nada y la cinta de hecho nunca ha sido exhibida en público.

Referencias[editar]

↑ Saltar a:^a ^b ^c Sanders, Kevin (2006). «Night of the Grizzly, A True Story Of Love And Death In The Wilderness» (en inglés). Consultado el 3 de julio de 2008.

↑ Saltar a:^a ^b Grizzly Man (DVD). Dirigida por Werner Herzog. Lions Gate, 2005.

Enlaces externos[editar]

Wikimedia Commons alberga contenido multimedia sobre Timothy Treadwell.

Timothy Treadwell en Internet Movie Database (en inglés)

Night of the Grizzly: A True Story Of Love And Death In The Wilderness (en inglés)

Página oficial de Grizzly People

EL ANIMAL INVISIBLE

Entradas populares