Timothy Treadwell became world-famous overnight — but for a tragic reason. In 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard set out for Katmai National Park in Alaska.

What was meant to be another close encounter with the grizzlies he adored instead became their final journey, captured in a chilling audio recording of the moments before they were killed by a brown bear.

Ended in horror
Timothy Treadwell was born in Mineola, Long Island, New York, and showed a love for animals from an early age. But it wasn’t until a close friend convinced him to travel to Alaska that his fascination with bears truly began.

In his memoir Among Grizzlies: Living with Wild Bears in Alaska, Treadwell revealed how his mission to protect the animals was born in the late 1980s, shortly after he survived a near-fatal heroin overdose. He credited his recovery to his encounters with wild bears, writing that from the moment he first saw one in the wild, he knew his destiny was tied to theirs.